Repeal DOMA /Separation of Church and State

What are the reasons to keep the Defense of Marriage (DOMA) on the books? Wait, the reasons that do not break the rule of separation of Church and State are the ones in which we are interested.

1. Traditional Marriage - Marriage has always been defined as between a man and a woman.

There are records from the 1st century church indicating that the church did indeed marry same sex couples.

In an article written by Father James Duffy, he writes and has evidence that same sex marriages took place throughout history.

Read the whole article in the The Gay Christian

As churches struggle with the issue of homosexuality, a long tradition of same sex marriage indicates that the Christian attitude toward same sex unions may not always have been as "straight" as is now suggested. A Kiev art museum contains a curious icon from St. Catherine's monastery on Mt. Sinai. It shows two robed Christian saints. Between them is a traditional Roman pronubus (best man) overseeing what in a standard Roman icon would be the wedding of a husband and wife. In the icon, Christ is the pronubus. Only one thing is unusual. The husband and wife are in fact two men.

The following research by Yale Law School Yale Law School Legal Scholarship Repository

A History of Same Sex Marriage

William N. Eskridge Jr.

Yale Law School

Makes the following observation regarding the problems with the "Traditional Marriage" (has always been between a man and a woman) arguement:

The early Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies that are considered important antecedents for Western culture apparently not only tolerated same-sex relationships, but also recognized such relationships in their culture, literature, and mythology. Evidence of same-sex marriage is at best indirect in these ancient societies, however. One finds slightly stronger and more direct evidence of same-sex marriages in Greek and early Roman culture, in imperial Rome, and in Western Europe for much of the Christian Middle Ages.

Read the entire research article here.

2.

As far as I know, there is no #2.

Traditional marriage is their only argument that does not break the Church's rule of "Separation of Church and State". Although, it has been proven that today's marriage is not necessarily all that traditional; it is good, right, and admirable to break with traditions when they are oppressive to a people.

An example of a tradition that was good and right when changed is slavery. Another example is women voting.

As Americans we pride ourselves in equality, yet, a whole group of people are being told that they do not deserve any rights. They are being told that they are second class citizens.

The Daily Kos has a wonderful article on Why was DOMA enacted?

They enacted DOMA specifically to confer a higher status on heterosexual people, so that more children would grow up to realize they should be heterosexual. This has of course led to higher incidents of suicide and depression among gay people, and outright rejection in some cases even by a gay person's friends or family, all to reach the ends of "promoting heterosexuality."

This is one of the biggest reasons it's time to repeal DOMA: sexual orientation is understood as a real distinction by law and by psychologists. Back when, for example, the military's gay ban was implemented, the idea was to stop a perceived aberrant sexual behavior. Society and science's views on homosexuality have changed - it's no longer a behavior but an orientation. It can't be changed and so-called "conversion therapy" has been rejected by scientists and psychologists. It made no sense to keep the gay ban going.

And it makes no sense to keep DOMA. Simply put, the goal of promoting heterosexuality is not served by laws like DADT or DOMA. The government can't promote heterosexuality even if it wanted to. At this point, it's only creating a second-class status for a group of people it can't change.

It is time to get this discriminatory law REPEALED!