Position: Defense of Marriage

I support the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) of 1996 that allows States to not recognize same-sex marriages from other States and defines marriage for the federal government as between one man and one woman.

I believe that the individual States should be able to define marriage for their jurisdictions but should not be able to bind other States with their decisions. I believe this issue should be decided by the legislative processes of the States and that the Courts overstep their bounds to deny the People, through their representative processes, to decide this issue.

I am appalled at the misbehavior of some extreme groups in California following the passage of Prop 8 last year that amended the California Constitution to ban same sex marriage. Some extreme groups have taken to outright terroristic harassment of individuals that freely exercised their first amendment rights by supporting Prop 8. It is the State of California’s business how it deals with such terror tactics, but I feel it has been far too lenient of the illegal activities of these extreme groups.

To date, DOMA has survived court challenges. Should the Courts rule that DOMA is un-Constitutional, I would support DOMA as a Constitutional Amendment.

Marriage is the union of one man and one woman. DOMA has been supported by large majorities at the federal and State level. I expect that DOMA will continue to receive a high levels of public and political support at both State and federal levels.