Issue: Federal Advocacy

Respect for Marriage Act

The Problem

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) singles out lawfully married same-sex couples for unequal treatment under federal law.  This law discriminates in two important ways.  First, Section 2 of DOMA purports to allow states to refuse to recognize valid civil marriages of same-sex couples.  Second, Section 3 of the law carves all same-sex couples, regardless of their marital status, out of all federal statutes, regulations, and rulings applicable to all other married people—thereby denying them over 1,100 federal benefits and protections. 
 

For example, legally married same-sex couples cannot:

  • File their taxes jointly

  • Take unpaid leave to care for a sick or injured spouse

  • Receive spousal, mother’s and father’s, or surviving spouse benefits under Social Security

  • Receive equal family health and pension benefits as federal civilian employees

Since DOMA’s passage in 1996, nine states and the District of Columbia have provided equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, and one other jurisdiction recognizes marriages of same-sex couples celebrated in other states and abroad. Thousands of couples have married since Massachusetts issued marriage licenses in 2004. Same-sex couples may marry in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington. California recognizes (the more than 18,000) same-sex marriages performed in California before the passage of Proposition 8. Because of DOMA, the federal government is not honoring their equal obligations under state law.

 

What is the Respect for Marriage Act?

The Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) repeals DOMA and restores the rights of all lawfully married couples—including same-sex couples—to receive the benefits of marriage under federal law.  The bill also provides same-sex couples with certainty that federal benefits and protections would flow from a valid marriage celebrated in a state where such marriages are legal, even if a couple moves or travels to another state.
 

By repealing Section 2, the Respect for Marriage Act returns to traditional principles of comity and Full Faith and Credit.  Under the RMA, same-sex couples and their families would be eligible for important federal benefits and protections such as family and medical leave or Social Security spousal and survivors’ benefits, but the federal government could not grant state-level rights.  The bill does not require states that have not yet enacted legal protections for same-sex couples to recognize a marriage.  Nor does it obligate any person, state, locality, or religious organization to celebrate or license a marriage between two persons of the same sex.  This legislation only requires the federal government to equally apply its policy of looking to the states in determining what legal relationships are eligible for federal benefits.

 

Americans Support Extending Protection to Same-Sex Couples

The system of federal benefits has always been based upon marriage.  Polling shows strong public support for extending federal benefits and protections to same-sex couples.  According to a December 2008 Newsweek/Princeton Research survey, more than seven in 10 Americans believe that same-sex couples should have inheritance rights, Social Security benefits, insurance benefits, and hospital visitation rights.  And in a March 2011 HRC/Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research survey, a majority of Americans support repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.  The Respect for Marriage Act, in repealing DOMA, would provide to same-sex couples the full range of federal benefits and responsibilities already associated with long-term, committed relationships.
 

Action in the 112th Congress

RMA was reintroduced in the 112th Congress in the House by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on March 16, 2011.  The Senate Judiciary Committee held on hearing on the legislation on July 20, 2011, and a markup on November 10, 2011.  The committee approved the bill by a vote of 10-8.


What is the Current Status of the Bill?

RMA is expected to soon be reintroduced in the 113th Congress.


For more information, please contact legislation@hrc.org.
 

 

Related Pages

Learn More about the RMA

 

Last Updated: January 3, 2013