Gay rights cause political strife in U.S.
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On March 5, Australia's 34th annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade was held in Sydney. Over 300,000 people gathered to witness the parade, which is one of the larger gay and lesbian themed parades in the world. On the same day, in another section of Sydney, Christians who opposed the parade held a rally.
Other countries which have had such public showdowns between the two conflicting groups include Italy and Spain.
Pick told Xinhua that "Log Cabin Republicans believe that the Department of Justice to no longer defend the (DOMA) law is rooted in political calculus rather than political courage. It is the role of the courts to decide DOMA's constitutionality, not unilateral action by the President."
Pick's response indicates that Log Cabin Republicans believe that President Barack Obama is thus agreeing with Attorney General Holder's Feb. 23 statement for the primary purpose of procuring as many votes as possible from the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities for the 2012 presidential election.
Fischer explained another theory about the matter which the AFA thinks will happen regarding DOMA.
"There is no question that, given the importance of this issue for the nation's public policy, it (the legality of DOMA) will be heard by the (U.S.) Supreme Court ... the mere fact that this issue is in court at all is a defeat for the American model of government, which is rooted in self-governance and the right of states under the 10th Amendment to establish marriage and family policy for themselves. DOMA insulates that right, by insulating states from being forced to recognize same-sex marriages formed in other states," said Fischer.
One of the cases that directly challenged the legality of Section 3 of DOMA is Windsor v. the United States. Filed in the U. S. District court for the Southern District of New York, it explained the story of Edith S. Windsor, the 81-year-old widow of Thea C. Spyer.
The two women were married in Toronto, Canada in 2007. Windsor and Spyer were thus a same-sex married couple living in New York, which is one of the few states that legally recognizes same-sex marriages for its citizens if they take place in another country.
When Spyer died, the elderly Windsor received a bill from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for 360,000 dollars, due for federal taxes on Windsor's inheritance on Spyer's estate.
As the IRS is a federal agency, and must therefore operate under federal law jurisdiction, the IRS did not legally recognize Spyer and Windsor's same-sex marriage. The Feb. 23 statement from Attorney General Holder means that the U.S. Department of Justice will be filing a legal motion that the Windsor v. the United States case be dismissed.
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