CARNAL NATION

Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 federal law that limits marriage to the union of one man and one woman. The suit alleges that Congress, in passing the law, overstepped its authority. "In enacting DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act], Congress overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people," said the lawsuit, which names as defendants U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the United States itself.

The case rests on two specific, federalist challenges to DOMA. First, Massachusetts claims that the definition put forth by the law of marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" infringes on the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, which grants the states all the powers not specifically reserved for the federal government. Second, the state also claims that the law violates Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which limits the power of Congress to attach terms and conditions on the allocation of federal funds. "Same-sex couples in Massachusetts are still denied essential rights and protections because the federal Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] interferes with the Commonwealth's authority to define and regulate marriage," the lawsuit said. DOMA precludes same-sex couples who have legally been married under state law from receiving a range of federal benefits, including federal income tax credits, employment and retirement benefits, health insurance coverage, and Social Security payments. The U.S. Justice Department has not yet commented publicly on the lawsuit.

Since legalizing same-sex marriage in 2004, more than 16,000 same-sex marriages have been performed in Massachusetts, which has pumped more than $111 million into the state economy. As of the latest figures, Massachusetts enjoys the lowest divorce rate of any state in the union. Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Maine have also legalized same-sex marriage. The New York state legislature is currently considering a bill that would also grant gays and lesbians the right to marry. A law recognizing the same-sex marriages performed in other states went into effect yesterday in the District of Columbia. A challenge to the California State Supreme Court's recent ruling upholding Prop. 8, which bans same-sex marriage, has been filed in federal court; the case "Perry versus Schwarzenegger" may evenutally wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.