The fight for equal marriage rights took a step forward on Feb. 23 when President Barack Obama instructed the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to no longer defend legal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress explaining that the DOJ would be instructing its lawyers to stop defending challenges to DOMA after deciding that Section 3 of the act, which specifically states that same-sex marriages would not be recognized by federal law, would not hold up to scrutiny over its constitutionality.

Officials at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center said the recent decision on the federal Defense of Marriage Act is a major step forward. (photo by Edwin Folven)

“After careful consideration, including review of a recommendation from me, the President of the United States has made the determination that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as applied to same-sex couples who are legally married under state law, violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment,” Holder wrote in his letter to Congress.

Local leaders in the LGBT community and gay-rights activists hailed the president’s decision.

“Refusing to defend the profoundly discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act is exactly the kind of fierce advocacy we’ve been yearning for from our president,” said Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center (LAGLC). “A discriminatory act like DOMA has no place in a nation founded under the principles of liberty and justice for all.”

The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which has been at the forefront in the battle to overturn Proposition 8, also hailed the president’s decision.

“This is a huge victory for gay and lesbian couples and removes any doubt that the freedom to marry is a constitutional right for all Americans,” said Chad Griffin, AFER Board President. “The U.S. District Court has already ruled marriage to be a right for all Californians, and now the federal government has sent a clear message that it too sees the freedom to marry as a fundamental constitutional right.”

John Duran, president pro tempore of the West Hollywood City Council, said the decision is more evidence that the country is coming around on the acceptance of gay-marriage. He said that West Hollywood received very little support from public officials when it first pushed for marriage equality in 1990.

“None of the senators supported us,” Duran said. “But this decision shows that public opinion on marriage equality has shifted since then. The president is taking a very courageous step with this decision.”

Duran added that Americans typically have two things that drive their morality system: their cultural traditions and the desire for justice and equality, and that it takes time for them to see what is just.

“Americans eventually gravitate toward the concept of equality,” Duran said. “It happened with women’s rights, racial discrimination, and it will happen with marriage equality.”

Duran was joined by councilmembers Lindsey Horvath and Abbe Land in praising the president’s decision.

“We’re thrilled that President Obama and the attorney general have reviewed DOMA and have declared what we have  known all along; that besides being discriminatory and wrong, DOMA is also unconstitutional and indefensible,” Land said. “I look forward to more of the barriers to marriage equality falling, and this is certainly an important roadblock to remove.”

“No one is equal until everyone is equal,” Horvath added. “With this decision, the President of the United States has acknowledged that denying marriage equality is wrong and unconstitutional, a major milestone for the equality movement.”

But news of the president’s intentions did not sit well with everyone. The American Legion, one of the largest military veterans organizations in the country, issued a letter of its own to congressional leaders denouncing the decision to stop defending DOMA. The letter stated that the organization supported the definition of marriage to be between a man and a woman and that Congress has a responsibility to defend DOMA even if the president will not.

“On behalf of the 2.4 million wartime veterans comprising The American Legion, I respectfully request that the Congress, as a whole and individually, use all means at its disposal to ensure both enforcement and defense of the Defense of Marriage Act, up to and including appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court for a ruling on its constitutionality in whole and in part,” wrote Jimmie L. Foster, national commander of the American Legion.

House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that he expected House Republicans to fight the president’s decision, an act Duran said would be a mistake.

“If that’s how the majority party spends their time then I think they will face a backlash in 2012,” Duran said. “Americans are more concerned right now with the economy and finding a job than they are with arguments about marriage equality.”

Jean added that the response from the Republican side lacked the teeth that previous challenges to marriage equality had.

“I think we have reached a tipping point,” Jean said. “Republicans did not immediately jump on this issue with the vitriol we are used to. It’s just so apparent that DOMA is a total injustice.”