Most Promising DOMA Lawsuit

Here's an article from law.com explaining why among all the DOMA lawsuits, the one filed by GLAD is considered the most hopeful in winning the argument against DOMA in front of the Supreme Court.

While GLAD might not have as high a profile as, say, Ted Olson, they were the ones that brought us gay marriage in Massachussetts. This lawsuit is evidence that GLAD is the expert in picking the right battles.

Do keep in mind though, that GLAD does not expect the lawsuit to reach the Supreme Court until 2013 at the earliest. That's a good four years from now. I certainly hope we'd have a legislative solution to DOMA by then.

One can only hope.

HRC & DOMA Repeal: Should We Give Them a Second Chance?

Apparently, HRC's "No Excuses" campaign was met with considerable skepticism from the LGBT community. Not only did they fail to raise a mere $200K for the campaign, they couldn't even find enough people to fill out their DOMA survey.

I can understand why so many people have given up on HRC-after all, they've been around for decades with few visible accomplishments under their belt, unless you count the number of galas they've had.

When words came out that HRC secretly asked Congress to NOT prioritize some of the more controversial gay rights issues such as DADT, there was a huge backlash against them with many elite members withdrawing their support. Hence the birth of the "No Excuses" campaign attempt to reverse HRC's image of inaction.

I belong to the camp that's willing to support this initiative with a healthy dose of skepticism. Yes, I donated money to the "No Excuses" campaign and dutifully filled out the DOMA survey. It's a good thing that HRC is changing direction under pressure, and I hope something good will eventually come out of it.

Another Perspective on DOMA Repeal

This article is a few weeks old but a good read nonetheless. It's always good to have another perspective, especially when the author is an attorney.

Justice Department Files Another DOMA Brief, Albeit in a Different Tone

The Justice Department sought to dismiss another DOMA challenge today, using a set of language completely different from its previous brief:

This administration does not support DOMA as a matter of policy, believes that it is discriminatory, and supports its repeal.

Consistent with the rule of law, however, the Department of Justice has long followed the practice of defending federal statutes as long as reasonable arguments can be made in support of their constitutionality, even if the Department disagrees with a particular statute as a policy matter, as it does here.

The White House also put out a statement saying:

Today, the Department of Justice has filed a response to a legal challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged. This brief makes clear, however, that my Administration believes that the Act is discriminatory and should be repealed by Congress. I have long held that DOMA prevents LGBT couples from being granted equal rights and benefits. While we work with Congress to repeal DOMA, my Administration will continue to examine and implement measures that will help extend rights and benefits to LGBT couples under existing law.

We should really feel warm and fuzzy about this, no? Well not really. All the nice words aside,the action they're taking is the same: They will defend DOMA until it's repealed by Congress.

But didn't the President say that he's "working with Congress to repeal DOMA"? To that I'd say I haven't seen any evidence that the President is really doing anything to push Congress on DOMA. We have seen how visible the President is in the health care reform debate, prodding lawmakers from both sides to reach a deal. He has done multiple townhalls to address that very issue.

So has he met with any senator or congressman and pushed them to pass a DOMA repeal bill? Absolutely no evidence of that. Instead, his staff at various occasions have made it clear the LGBT community should push congress, not the White House. In other words, If anything they are trying to stay out of it.

So my gut feeling is, when Rep. Nadler introduces the DOMA repeal bill, the President will say some real nice things about it, then kick the ball to Congress and wash his hands clean of bill. Don't expect him to be out there advocating for our cause.

Obama sees early 2010 start on immigration reform

From the AP:

President Barack Obama said on Friday he expects Congress to overhaul the country's immigration system, an issue that fires up emotions on both sides of the political divide, by "early next year."

With health care reform hitting one stumbling block after another, it's no surprise that comprehensive immigration reform will not happen this year. The question is, how good are the odd for it in 2010?

The president certainly left a way out for himself:

Asked if an immigration bill would have enough votes to pass Congress, Obama said he did not know. He also noted as a further complication that next year is an election year.

The reality is, the Democrats must introduce CIR to fulfill their promise to the Hispanic community, whether they still have the political power or will to pass it or not.

My personal opinion is that CIR would be a tougher sell than DOMA Repeal. It's getting harder and harder for the GOP to motivate their base using wedge issues such as gay marriage, and they're becoming increasingly wary of doing that. But CIR would provide them with another opportunity to attack the Dems. Imagine a TV commercial that says:"While millions of Americans are without jobs, the Democrats decide to grant job-stealing illegal immigrants citizenship..."

Yes, it will make the GOP's effort to appeal to their Hispanic constituents all the more harder, but I think they've basically given up on that.

ENDA and DOMA Repeal

ENDA was introduced to the Senate yesterday, and according to the Advocate, might become law this year.

Earlier, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act was approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee, making it ready for a floor vote.

Both items are on Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi's priority list, which is incredibly out-of-step with grassroots LGBT needs. Basically, DOMA Repeal won't be considered until both legislations pass in Congress. It's very likely that Congress will take up ENDA first, then DPBO, which has President Obama's backing.

But then what? Are they going to take on DADT first, or the DOMA Repeal? During a hotly contested midterm election both of these could be potential hot potato issues. More likely than not the Democrats are going to lose seats, making the 112th a more hostile place for LGBT rights.

Unless Congressional Democrats abandon their baby steps approach and take bold actions on LGBT rights, it's hard to see them taking on both DADT and DOMA next year.

For now, we can only keep our fingers crossed.

HRC:DOMA must go!

After urging their members to talk to their lawmakers about the LGBT agenda (DOMA Repeal chief among them) during the August Recess, HRC has followed with a survey intended to show congress the damage DOMA is doing to LGBT families.

Why a survey? If you or someone close to you is married to a same-sex partner, you probably know all about DOMA’s discriminatory effects. But there are still far too many people – including our lawmakers – who don’t know how DOMA is harming families every day. Your answers to this survey will help show them how important this issue is.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve helped build unprecedented momentum to repeal DOMA. But President Obama has yet to take action against DOMA, and Congress still isn’t getting the message. We need to keep up a constant stream of pressure if they’re going to act.

Like many others in the community, I have always been skeptical of HRC in their ability and willingness to speak for the grassroots. But if this time they truly put their weight behind the DOMA repeal, I'm more than willing to open my wallet and donate money. Joe Solomonese can have as many galas as he likes if my family can enjoy some real rights.

More Democrats the Better?

The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld has some interesting observations on the Blue Dog Democrats and their decisive role in the current health care reform debate. Kerry then examined the record of the Blue Dogs and concluded that even though most Blue Dogs are fiscal conservatives, most of them have pretty gay-friendly voting records-if they are NOT from the South, that is. On the other hand, quite a few Republicans from the Midwest to the Northeast are also friendly to gay causes. She wrote:

But it does demonstrate another point for those who are specifically interested in pushing LGBT rights forward -- swelling the Democratic majorities by electing more Heath Shulers in the South does little to advance LGBT equality. The community would be better served, in fact, by letting Democrats lose some of those Southern seats while focusing on electing some pro-LGBT Republicans in the Midwest and Northeast. In fact, that would be particularly helpful in the Senate. The only caveat is that the movement certainly has an interest in keeping Democrats in the majority.

Personally, I care more about a lawmaker's voting record than their party affiliation. If a Republican is gay-friendly, what's the point of replacing him/her with a Democrat, who would produce an exact same vote?

Besides, the reason why Congress has not acted on major LGBT legislation such as DOMA Repeal is not the lack of Democrats/votes, but the lack of courage. Those on Capitol Hill are just not keeping up with public opinion, unfortunately.

HRC Lobbying Senator to Introduce DOMA Repeal

From Southern Voice:

Allison Herwitt, HRC's legislative director, told the Blade on Friday that her organization has been communicating with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) to introduce DOMA repeal legislation that would complement a similar bill expected in the House.

Feingold is an interesting choice since Wisconsin will have a limited domestic partnership law in place by October, but his constituents won't be able to benefit from the DOMA Repeal as it will only recognize marriage, but not civil union/domestic partnership. So I don't know how enthusiatic he'd be in pushing a DOMA repeal. Granted, it may allow people living in states where gay marriage is not legal to get married in states where it is and enjoy federal benefits. According to this article:

Herwitt noted that Nadler said a "certainty provision" in the bill would allow gay couples living in a state where marriage is not recognized to go to another state to marry and qualify for federal benefits when they return home.

"You could, if you lived in Oklahoma, travel to Massachusetts, or one of the other [five] states get married and [go] back to Oklahoma," she said. "The state would not have to recognize your marriage, but federal benefits would flow."

But the article also confirms my worse fears, that DOMA Repeal is not possible in this congress.

Despite these developments, Herwitt said she didn't think DOMA repeal would happen during this congressional session.

Now, if it doesn't pass in this session (2009), I don't see how it can get picked up by the next session, where midterm election will be on everyone's mind and controversial topics are avoided at all costs.

But we should take comfort in the fact that progress is happening, albeit at a much lower pace than we'd like. That's the political reality.