House Reaffirms DOMA

Yesterday the U.S. House meaninglessly voted 248-175 to affirm DOMA as the law of the land. The Human Rights Campaign notes:

“This amendment is completely unnecessary and only serves to cloud the debate over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal by pointlessly injecting the issue of marriage equality into the conversation. Since Pentagon officials have made it clear that they are bound by DOMA like every other federal agency, it’s puzzling why Rep. Foxx would question whether our military leaders understand this point. “House Republican leaders seem to have no end to their desire to play politics with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people instead of tackling real problems. It will be up to the Senate to reject the House’s return to using LGBT Americans as a wedge issue.”

House Reaffirms DOMA

Yesterday the U.S. House meaninglessly voted 248-175 to affirm DOMA as the law of the land. The Human Rights Campaign notes:

“This amendment is completely unnecessary and only serves to cloud the debate over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal by pointlessly injecting the issue of marriage equality into the conversation. Since Pentagon officials have made it clear that they are bound by DOMA like every other federal agency, it’s puzzling why Rep. Foxx would question whether our military leaders understand this point. “House Republican leaders seem to have no end to their desire to play politics with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people instead of tackling real problems. It will be up to the Senate to reject the House’s return to using LGBT Americans as a wedge issue.”

Elaine Donnelly On DOMA & DADT

Elaine Donnelly of the anti-gay Center for Military Readiness is backing a bill that bans federal policy changes that violate DOMA.

"The reason this [amendment] is necessary is because the Department of the Navy, in particular, has already signaled that contrary to assurances given to Congress, they are quite prepared to start conducting same-sex marriages on military bases -- which would, for the sake of consistency, lead to the extension of benefits to these same-sex couples," says Donnelly." And the Defense of Marriage Act would preclude that, she argues. "In fact, the extension of benefits to same-sex couples on the same basis as opposite-sex couples probably could blow a hole in the Department of Defense budget."

The bill, coauthored by wingnut GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx and GOP Rep. Dan Burton, has no real shot of passage in the Senate.

Elaine Donnelly On DOMA & DADT

Elaine Donnelly of the anti-gay Center for Military Readiness is backing a bill that bans federal policy changes that violate DOMA.

"The reason this [amendment] is necessary is because the Department of the Navy, in particular, has already signaled that contrary to assurances given to Congress, they are quite prepared to start conducting same-sex marriages on military bases -- which would, for the sake of consistency, lead to the extension of benefits to these same-sex couples," says Donnelly." And the Defense of Marriage Act would preclude that, she argues. "In fact, the extension of benefits to same-sex couples on the same basis as opposite-sex couples probably could blow a hole in the Department of Defense budget."

The bill, coauthored by wingnut GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx and GOP Rep. Dan Burton, has no real shot of passage in the Senate.