Obama Administration files brief supporting repeal of DOMA

President Obama's administration filed an historic legal brief late Friday that declares his belief to the US Supreme Court that DOMA is unconstitutional. The brief was written by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.

According to NBC News:

The Obama administration urged the Supreme Court on Friday to throw out a section of a 1996 federal law that prohibits recognition of same-sex marriage. 

The brief was filed Friday in United States v. Windsor, a case challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, the law that legally declares marriage to be only between a man and a woman. That section allows state and federal authorities to deny benefits to same-sex couples that are commonplace for heterosexual couples, like insurance for government workers and Social Security survivors' benefits.

This marks the first time a president has endorsed same-sex marriage rights in the nation's highest court.

The brief cites (among many other things) the Stonewall rebellion, gay parenting studies, and federal hate crime statistics. 

The brief reads in part: "Moral opposition to homosexuality, though it may reflect deeply held personal views, is not a legitimate policy objective that can justify unequal treatment of gay and lesbian people."

Read the entire document here.

(via Towleroad)