DOMA Unconstitutional: A More Perfect Union

With the bad there comes some good.  Just one day after the cornerstone of protecting the rights of under-represented American citizens is gutted by 5 old white men, we get a decision that is so right you would have to believe that it would have happened but for the fact that we have a Supreme Court that is more about protecting the wealthiest and most powerful amongst us than it is about protecting the Constitution and the rights of all Americans.  Sometimes the right thing happens.

The 'Defense of Marriage Act' is unconstitutional.  From the name it sounds like it might be a good thing. After all, 40-50% marriages in the U.S. today are predicted to end in divorce.  The rate of divorce in American is fifth in the world, and three of the four countries ahead of us are part of the former Soviet Union, a government that is not associated with celebrating the sanctity of marrage.  This law was not about defending marriage--it didn't seek to right the wrongs that have happened in the institution of marriage in the United States.  It sought to limit the civil liberties of gay Americans by denying them the benefits of marriage that our country confers on those who manage to stay married, against all odds.  That ended this week.  Now all marriages that are sanctioned by the state will be recognized by the Federal Government.  We are not done, by any means, with marriage equality.  There are still far more states that do not allow it than there are where you can get married--but there has been a flurry of change this past year, and there are several more states that are likely to come next: Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Hawaii, New Jersey and Nevada, to name a few.  The train has left the station, and yesterday, the SCOTUS made it clear it is not coming back.