Petition to Repeal the Defense of Marriage Act

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Author: jameskrellenstein

Started: July 2, 2009, 7:34:28 pm

Target: President Barack Obama

Category: Civil & Human Rights

Supporters:

Goal:

1,000

Goal Progress:

Status

Active

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC, 20500

Dear Mr. President,

The 2008 election represented a historic step forward in
the fight for equal rights in the United States of America. Although
this election served as a testament to the hard work of countless
individuals who sacrificed so-much for the cause of civil rights, it
also served as chilling reminder of the persistence of discrimination
in American Society. As you are most certainly aware, three states,
California, Florida and Arizona, passed legislation that prevented
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual citizens from being afforded
the plethora of legal rights of marriage. The systematic denial of
over fifteen hundred legal rights to a specific group of people, based
on nothing more than their sexual orientation or gender identity,
represents discrimination at its most elementary and is fundamentally incompatible with the values and ideas that the United States was founded upon.

Yet, we fear that this discrimination has been
institutionalized at both the state and federal level. The Defense of
Marriage Act (Public Law No. 104-199, 110 Stat. 2419) specifically
prohibits the federal government of the United States from affording
the rights of marriage to any same sex marriages, even if they are
recognized or were conducted by a state. Furthermore, the law allows for other states to not recognize same sex marriages, even if they were legally performed and recognized in other states, a concept that is antithetical to the Full Faith and Credit clause of the US constitution.

While we understand that there are many other important
issues that must be addressed promptly, such as the ailing state of
the economy and a multitude of overseas conflicts, we believe that the preservation of freedom for all citizens is one of the most important duties the constitution assigns the office of President. We therefore request that you work to promptly repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and insist that all states treat citizens, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, equally.

Sincerely, The Undersigned