The marriage-equality landscape changed indelibly last Wednesday as the Supreme Court struck Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act and invalidated Proposition 8, and reverberations from those rulings are starting to be felt.
Last Friday, a California appellate court lifted the stay on same-sex marriages, and the lead plaintiffs who challenged the ballot initiative were the first to tie the knot that evening in San Francisco.
Also that day, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management instructed all federal agencies that same-sex spouses of federal employees are now eligible for the full gamut of health-insurance benefits.
And a Bulgarian man living in Florida, who is legally wed to his partner, was approved for a green card, as the pair became the first same-sex married couple to be allowed a permanent resident visa.
Previously, DOMA had prevented same-sex binational couples from sponsoring one another for immigration.
However, change will not be as swift in other realms, as some federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration, define marriage according to the state in which a couple lives.
Following last week’s ruling, President Obama instructed the Department of Justice to evaluate how the DOMA ruling can be implemented swiftly.
Efforts are also underway for legislation to fully repeal DOMA and establish that all same-sex married couples are entitled to federal benefits, regardless of their state of residence. U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Sen. Dianne Feinstein reintroduced companion versions of the Respect for Marriage Act the day of the Supreme Court rulings.
Nadler’s bill has 162 cosponsors, including Pennsylvania Congressmembers Bob Brady (D-First Dist.), Matt Cartwright (D-17th Dist.), Mike Doyle (D-14th Dist.), Chaka Fattah (D-Second Dist.) and Allyson Schwartz (D-13th Dist.). Sen. Bob Casey (D) is a cosponsor of the Senate bill.
“We have an obligation to ensure every same-sex couple — whether they live in Arkansas or New York, Kansas or California — can share in today’s emotional and deserved victory,” HRC president Chad Griffin said last week. “We have momentum on our side, and it’s only a matter of time until the remaining parts of DOMA are entirely repealed.”
However, a small contingent of Republicans is working to add extra federal protections against same-sex marriage.
Congressman Tim Huelskamp last Friday introduced a bill to instate a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, an effort supported by 28 Republican lawmakers, including Pennsylvania’s Joseph Pitts (16th Dist.) and Bill Shuster (Ninth Dist.).