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DOMA discriminatory

By on February 27, 2013

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A poll released last week for the Center for American Progress and Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAAD) has found that a majority of people believe the US Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to be discriminatory.

The poll focused on Section 3 of DOMA, which prohibits the US government from recognising same-sex marriages, even when they’re legal in certain states.

Sixty-two per cent of respondents agreed that “it is discrimination for the federal government to deny marriage protections and benefits to legally married same-sex couples”. Thirty-four per cent disagreed with the statement and four per cent were unsure.

The US Supreme Court will a case against DOMA in 2013 which could result in the justices striking down the act.

The case concerns a same-sex couple from New York – Edith Windsor and Thea Clara Spyer – who were married in Canada in 2007, shortly before Spyer died in 2009. Windsor inherited her property but was forced to pay a tax bill of US$360,000 because their marriage was not recognised under DOMA.

 

 

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