In the wake of President Obama’s decision to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, liberal Democrats — led by Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York — have decided to take advantage of the situation and have introduced a bill to overturn DOMA, which restricts marriage to between a man and a woman.
Nadler, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and vice-chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus, reintroduced the supposed “Respect for Marriage Act” legislation in the Senate last week.
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Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America tells OneNewsNow: “The congressmen who introduced this bill are claiming rights that don’t exist. There is no right to same-sex ‘marriage,’ and they seek to confuse people by using language like that. Every time that marriage has come up for a vote in a state, that state has protected marriages between one man and one woman.”
Matt Barber, vice president of Liberty Counsel Action, refers to the bill as the “Disrespecting Marriage Act.” He says the good news is that it is really an exercise in futility — and he believes Democrats know that.
“We have a faction of radical leftists in the House and in the Senate who are willing to side and align themselves with extremist, homosexual pressure groups in order to try to take a sledgehammer to the institution of marriage, which is fundamental to any healthy society,” says Barber.The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force applauds the move by Democrats, calling it “landmark legislation.” Wright says homosexual lobbying groups often act like victims, but it is quite the contrary.
“So when you look at how they operate, they are in fact the bullies,” says the CWA spokeswoman. “They’re the ones who have massive amounts of money. When you look at the budgets of these groups, it’s rather shocking the multimillions of dollars they have — they bring in every year — and with that, they’re able to hire full-time lobbyists who then intimidate not only politicians but corporations.”
The proposed legislation comes after the Obama administration’s recent announcement that it will no longer defend DOMA in court. House Republican leaders have vowed to protect the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA passed overwhelmingly in 1996 — and as Barber points out, most Democrats voted for it.
“Nothing has changed from then to now in terms of the legitimate definition of marriage,” explains the Liberty Counsel VP. “The only thing that has changed is the political winds and the fact that we have a president in the Oval Office right now who has the institution of marriage in his crosshairs.” (Listen to audio report)
He says introduction of the bills may very well be a political payoff by the Obama administration for support from homosexual activists who helped boost him into the White House.
