The anti-gay marriage group National
Organization for Marriage (NOM) claims Obama officials are sabotaging
the defense of the federal gay marriage ban DOMA.
The
Obama administration on Thursday appealed two federal cases that
found portions of DOMA to be unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro ruled
in July that the 1996 law violates the constitutional rights of gay
and lesbian couples by denying them equal access to federal benefits
such as Social Security.
Both challenges were filed in
Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage in the United
States.
Appealing the cases is risky because
the current ruling only applies to couples married in Massachusetts
but a ruling from a higher court could have nationwide implications.
NOM President Brian Brown accused Obama
officials of purposefully throwing the case.
“The DOJ [Department of Justice]
brief amounts to collusive litigation, failing to even offer to the
court, much less vigorously defend, the reasons Congress laid out in
the statute when it passed DOMA – especially responsible
procreation,” Brown
said in a statement.
In its filing, the administration
called DOMA “rational” because states have yet to adopt uniform
rules on gay marriage.
“All the parties to this litigation
want the court to strike down DOMA; this is clear from their
behavior, no matter what President Obama and his politicized DOJ
pretend to convey to the public,” Brown added. “If Obama's DOJ
had merely honestly refused to defend the law, the court would likely
have permitted another party to intervene to defend the law.”
“Obama's DOJ is trying to retain
control so it can lose the case,” Brown said.