Federal Court in Boston rules Section 3 of DOMA "Unconstitutional"!!

From the Boston Globe:

A US district court judge in Boston yesterday declared unconstitutional a 1996 law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Judge Joseph L. Tauro, ruling in two separate challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, declared that the law “induces the Commonwealth to violate the equal protection rights of its citizens’’ and “plainly intrudes on a core area of state sovereignty, the ability to define the marital status of its citizens.’’

“This court has determined that it is clearly within the authority of the Commonwealth to recognize same-sex marriages among its residents and to afford those individuals in same-sex marriages any benefits, rights, and privileges to which they are entitled by virtue of their marital status,’’ Tauro wrote.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who brought one of the two challenges, said the decisions would apply only to the approximately 16,000 same-sex couples who have married in Massachusetts since gay marriage became legal here in 2004. They will now become eligible for the same federal benefits extended to married heterosexuals, she said.

“Judge Tauro’s decision does not technically apply to other states,’’ Coakley said. “It doesn’t change anything in terms of how they treat marriage or how they’re treated by the federal government.’’

But opponents as well as proponents of same-sex marriage predicted that the Obama administration will appeal the rulings to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston and that the constitutionality of the law will be decided by the US Supreme Court. During an appeal, it is likely that the law would remain in effect, lawyers said.

This is a great day for marriage equality in this country. Now comes the knuckledraggers with their portents of the doom of the family and the horrors to be let loose on the children. 

 Cue the professional douchebag Kris Mineau:

Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, called Tauro’s decision “another blatant example of a judge playing legislator.’’ “We believe it’s an egregious decision by obviously an activist judge, and it runs counter to previous federal decisions in other districts,’’ he said. “The federal government should have the right to determine [who receives federal] benefits.’’

Read the decision below and rejoice in the great day!

(The painting is Amor Victorious, by Caravaggio)

DOMA Decision