MollyTack-Hooper

Pennsylvania law doesn’t provide for civil unions or domestic partnerships for same-sex partners. PA has a “mini-DOMA” law, passed in 1996, that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. This means that, currently, same-sex couples can’t get married in PA, and out-of-state marriages between same-sex couples aren’t recognized in PA. We want to change that so same-sex couples can get married in PA and have their marriages from elsewhere recognized in PA.

The legal analysis is the same whether a state has a constitutional amendment banning marriage by same-sex couples or a statute that does the same thing. This is because denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry violates the U.S. Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution trumps both state law and state constitutions.

And thanks for your support!

Windsor will definitely be helpful. The Court’s opinion in US v. Windsor underscores the importance of marriage for same-sex couples and their families. Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion acknowledges that DOMA harms same-sex couples and their families, denying them material resources and stigmatizing them.

We absolutely 100% believe in this. It’s a travesty that in 2013, loving, committed same-sex couples are treated as second-class citizens. PA’s DOMA law hurts our clients, and it demeans us as a society.

I would add that we’ve been working for LGBT rights and recognition of LGBT relationships for decades. This case is the logical next step in our work.

In US v. Windsor, the Supreme Court decided that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. The Court did not address the question of the constitutionality of states excluding same-sex couples from marriage. But states are bound by the U.S. Constitution just as the federal government is. And we think Pennsylvania’s DOMA violates the U.S. Constitution no less than the federal DOMA law does.