Senator Coons will join Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) at a press conference on Wednesday to announce legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
In a statement after President Obama instructed the Justice Department to longer defend DOMA in court, Chris said, “it is time to repeal DOMA and make clear that it is not the policy of the government of the United States of America to discriminate against its citizens on the basis of their sexual orientation.”
“The Defense of Marriage Act enshrined the discriminatory treatment of American citizens based on sexual orientation, which simply should not be a factor in a person’s access to equality in this country,” Chris said. “Rather than defend an unconstitutional statue, the President today demonstrated his commitment to defending the Constitution and its prohibition on arbitrary discrimination.”