Attorney General says DOMA is overreaching and discriminatory
Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage, and now they are the first state suing the US government over a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The “Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) interferes with the right of Massachusetts to define and regulate marriage as it sees fit,” Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said. The 1996 law denies federal recognition of gay marriage and gives states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court argues “the act constitutes an overreaching and discriminatory federal law.”
