New Federal Challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act Filed

The Human Rights Campaign today praised the filing of two new federal lawsuits challenging the denial of federal rights, benefits and responsibilities to same-sex couples lawfully married under the laws of their states. These cases, Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management, brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), and Windsor v. United States, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), challenge the constitutionality of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law adopted in 1996 that bars federal recognition of marriages between same-sex couples, even when those marriages are legal in the couples’ home states.

In Pedersen, filed in federal district court in Connecticut, GLAD is representing five married same-sex couples and a widower from Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont who have been denied specific federal rights and benefits, including access to time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act, federal employee health benefits, and Social Security benefits. Earlier this year, GLAD secured an initial victory in a similar case involving married Massachusetts couples, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, when a federal district judge in Boston ruled that DOMA is unconstitutional. That decision is currently being appealed by the U.S. Department of Justice to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

In Windsor, filed in federal district court in New York, the ACLU is representing a widow who, after the death of her spouse, faces significant federal estate taxes, a financial burden that other, different-sex surviving spouses would not have to face. The plaintiff and her late spouse were lawfully married in Canada, and that marriage is recognized under New York law.

“These cases provide further evidence that the so-called Defense of Marriage Act is not simply an abstract insult to the dignity of same-sex couples and their families – although it is indeed a deeply offensive law. DOMA causes real harm to people like Joanne Pedersen, Ann Meitzen and Edie Windsor, denying them economic security, health coverage and other critical federal rights and benefits that other married couples take for granted,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “We thank the courageous plaintiffs and our friends at GLAD and the ACLU for taking these important steps to ensure that the federal government treats all married couples equally.”

More information about these cases and the plaintiffs is available at www.glad.org/doma and www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/windsor-v-united-states.