HARTFORD, Conn., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Two lawsuits are challenging the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act, which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions.
One lawsuit by Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders was filed in federal court in Hartford, Conn., on behalf of three gay couples and a widower from Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire, The Hartford Courant reported. Those three states plus Iowa, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia are the only ones in the country where gay marriage is now legal.
Like GLAD, the American Civil Liberties Union argues that the law violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution by barring gays from the many benefits married couples enjoy under various federal programs. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit in New York.
"The discrimination takes a toll on all of these folks," Mary L. Bonauto, director of GLAD's civil rights project, said. "There is no reason, in our view, for the federal government to take one group of married people only and treat them differently from every other married person in any one of these states.''
