The Supreme court is looking into challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) this week, 17 years after it was introduced. The act defines marriage as being strictly between a man and a woman, disregarding the states where gay marriage is already legalized. This law prevents legally married gay Americans from getting the same benefits as heterosexual partners, like estate taxes, social security benefits, and health benefits. In 2011, the Obama administration no longer defended the act, but did nothing to repeal it.
This is the second of the back to back cases about gay marriage, the first being the possible repeal of Proposition 8 in California. California briefly legalized gay marriage in 2008 for about 5 months before Prop 8 was passed, banning it again.The states that currently have gay marriage legalized are Conneticut, I owa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Washington, and Vermont.The District of Columbia also acknowledges same sex marriage.
People begin to line up days in advance in hope that they would be able to view this possibly historic hearing. Rallies either in support of gay marriage or against it are still going on, as people anxiously await the results of the hearing,
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