WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it will support a congressional effort to repeal a federal law that defines marriage as a legal union between a man and woman.
White House spokesman Jay Carney denounced the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, saying the administration will back a bill introduced this year by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to remove the law from the books. Feinstein’s bill, called the Respect for Marriage Act, would “uphold the principle that the federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples” the same rights as others, according to Carney.
The Senate is scheduled to hold an initial hearing on Feinstein’s proposal today. “The policy was wrong then and it is wrong today, and I believe it should be repealed,” Feinstein said Tuesday.
Obama’s decision came five months after his administration instructed U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act.
Opponents of same-sex marriage have decried the Justice Department’s refusal to defend the law as an unjustified political move.
The Washington Post
