Defense of Marriage Act

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a U.S. law passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996. The law defended traditional marriage by enabling each state to refuse to recognize another state's grant of gay marriages. The no longer effective Section 3 clarified that the U.S. federal government didn't recognize gay marriages at all, even if recognized by one of the states. This law was meant to ensure 2 things: No state was required to recognize a gay marriage performed in another state under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution. The federal government couldn't recognize any gay marriages. At the time, it was thought that the first effect was most important, and it appears first in the law. Over 10 years later, the second effect has emerged as most important, and in early 2009 a lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts to force the federal government to recognize gay marriages performed there. The DOMA was supported by many candidates both Democrat and Republican, many of whom on both sides (more Democrats though) would later flipflop on the issue 10–20 years later, likely due to the polls in order to be elected. Many of these, including Hillary Clinton, try to deny or at least come up with excuses for their inconsistent position.

After the passage of DOMA in 1996, many state legislators enacted state statutes, nicknamed mini-DOMAs, that ban gay marriage. 30 out of 50 states had constitutional provisions defining and limiting marriage as between a man and a woman. Prior to the 2012 general election, traditional marriage had been affirmed in all 32 states in which it was put to a popular vote. The states lacking protection of marriage in their constitutions are the 13 northeastern states and territory (D.C.) beginning with West Virginia (but not including Virginia); in the Midwest the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, and in the West the states of Colorado, New Mexico and Washington. Several of these states instead had state laws prohibiting gay marriage. As of August 3, 2010, 7 states had judicially declared or legislatively enacted gay marriage laws: Massachusetts, California, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. Proposition 8 modified California's constitution in 2008 to protect the sanctity of marriage, and Maine Question 1 which was a People's Veto of a gay marriage law passed by the legislature was approved. In the 2012 general election 3 states (Maine, Maryland, and Washington) legalized gay marriage after a popular vote and an amendment to Minnesota's Constitution that would've recognized marriage only as a union of one man and one woman failed in its referendum.

On June 26, 2013, Section 3 of the act was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States.^[1] On December 13, 2022, it was officially repealed and replaced by the Respect for Marriage Act.^[2]

• Same-sex marriage in the United States