After announcing two weeks ago his strong support for a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, Senator Coons on Wednesday joined Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and 17 of his Senate colleagues in introducing a bill that would not only repeal DOMA, but would actively prevent the federal government from discriminating against same-sex couples.
The bill doesn’t require states to allow same-sex marriage, but it does require the federal government to recognize the marriages performed by states that do.
“There are thousands of same-sex couples legally married in several states but whose marriages have been deemed invalid or unworthy by the federal government,” Senator Coons said in a statement released Wednesday. “The Respect for Marriage Act not only reverses this discriminatory provision but ensures LGBT families will be afforded the same federal rights as every other American. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill.”
“There are too many young people growing up in Delaware and throughout the United States who think the world is against them because they are gay,” Senator Coons said. “Repealing DOMA is one way we can tell a whole generation of young LGBT Americans that they should not give up and that their country respects them enough to treat them as equal to every other American.”