Here's an interesting dilemna. The Obama administration is in a strange position because they have to defend the Defense of Marriage Act even though they want it repealed. Go figure.
Read below from Politico today.
Following a furious outcry from the gay community, the Obama Administration is toning down its defense of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
In a brief filed Monday morning in a lawsuit challenging the validitity of DOMA, the Justice Department put on the record that the administration favors repeal of the statute — a position that was omitted from a controversial legal filing the department made in June. DOJ also explicitly rejected arguments put forward by conservative groups that the importance of marriage for child rearing is a legitimate justification for DOMA's ban on federal recognition of same-sex unions.
"This Administration does not support DOMA as a matter of policy, believes that it is discriminatory, and supports its repeal," the new brief from Justice Department lawyer Scott Simpson said. The brief then goes on to explain why DOJ is vigorously defending the measure it opposes.
"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," Simpson wrote. "This longstanding and bipartisan tradition accords the respect appropriately due to a coequal branch of government and ensures that subsequent administrations will faithfully defend laws with which they may disagree on policy grounds," he added in a footnote.
Read the brief here.
This new added language calling for the repeal of DOMA should be seen as a way for this White House to gain more good favor with the gay community. But don't think for a moment gay activists will be satisfied.