The irony lies in the name of the law. "Defense of marriage"? When marriage is allowed to only a select group of people? Another insanity.
But now the death of that defense looks a little closer.
A federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled on Thursday that the federal statute defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman unlawfully discriminates against same-sex married couples by denying them equal federal benefits.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is the second federal appeals court to reject a central portion of the federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act, following the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston, which handed down its ruling in May....NYT
That's the good news. Here's the downer.
The Supreme Court may take up the issue as soon as the current term. ...NYT
It's hard to imagine what excuse the clunk-heads on the right can find to keep this law on the books, but I'm sure they'll try, sticking yet another of their shivs in the Constitution's old ribs.