Pelosi Spokesman: Speaker Boehner Strikes Out Again, Another Federal Court Rules DOMA Unconstitutional

May 25, 2012

Washington, D.C. - Drew Hammill, spokesman for Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, issued the following statement in response to a federal district court decision yesterday in the Northern District of California in Dragovich v. U.S. Department of Treasury that ruled the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional and held that federal tax law cannot limit the participation of same-sex married couples and domestic partners in a long-term care insurance plan. It is the second case in which the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) has lost on the merits; it has intervened in 13 cases to date:

'Yesterday's court ruling again affirms that the equal protection of our laws extend to all Americans under our Constitution, and there is no legitimate federal interest in denying same-sex couples the legal security, rights, and responsibilities guaranteed to all married couples. In ruling DOMA unconstitutional, the district court found that the arguments of Speaker Boehner's taxpayer-funded lawyers did not demonstrate the furtherance of any legitimate federal interest.

'It is long past time that Speaker Boehner and the Republican leadership stop spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to make arguments that insult millions of Americans and their families, and seek to perpetuate fundamental unfairness and discrimination. As progress on marriage equality continues from all corners of our country, this court decision is another step forward in our fight to repeal DOMA and to ensure that every American has the freedom to marry.'