DOMA upheld by federal court

Yesterday a federal district court upheld the federal Defense of Marriage Act from 1996, which says that same-sex marriages are not recognized by the federal government, and that one state need not recognize another state's same-sex marriages.

Maybe the Republicans will finally shut up about the "pressing need" for the Federal Marriage Amendment.

Or maybe not:

"Today we have witnessed a significant victory -- for marriage and democracy,'' said Tom Minnery of Focus on Family. The group is pushing for an amendment to the Constitution that would ban same-sex marriages.

"Unfortunately, at any time, marriage in any jurisdiction is only one judge away from being ruled unconstitutional.''

This "democratic" anti-judicial argument for the FMA just got a lot weaker. If DOMA holds, then there's no reason for any other state to worry about same-sex marriage in Massachusetts - they can't keep using this rhetoric of emergency. (I can't see the Supreme Court overturning this district ruling, and precedent is pretty strong in judicial rulings.) And as same-sex marriage becomes more accepted in Massachusetts, they can't even complain that it's all "judicial tyranny." In fact, they want to impose the tyranny of the red states on Massachusetts. So their position is exposed (which we knew all along, of course): simple animus against gay people.