Love Makes a Family conducted a survey of Connecticut’s Congressional delegation to find out where they stand on the Defense of Marriage Act.
The group wanted to find out where the delegation stood on the issue because even though roughly 1,000 same-sex couples have received marriage licenses in Connecticut since Nov. 2008—none of them will be eligible for federal benefits unless DOMA is repealed or at the very least watered-down.
U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, who previously supported DOMA has changed his position, but still does not support a full repeal.
In an Op-Ed that ran in Sunday’s Meriden-Record Journal Dodd said he was raised to believe “that marriage is between a man and a woman,” but after a meeting with members of the gay and lesbian community last week he changed his mind.
“But the fact that I was raised a certain way just isn’t a good enough reason to stand in the way of fairness anymore,” Dodd wrote.
U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Independent, said he voted for DOMA in 1996 and “continues to support the principles set forth in that law today.”
“DOMA makes clear that marriage under federal law is a status that should be attainable only by one man and one woman and that any State’s decision to define marriage otherwise, such as his own State of Connecticut which he respects, should not affect the definition of marriage under either federal law or the laws of other States,” Lieberman said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. John Larson, who initially didn’t respond to the question in the Love Makes a Family survey, sent out a statement Monday in support of repealing Section 3 of DOMA, which would allow married same-sex couples to receive federal benefits.
“I support the repeal of Section 3 of DOMA and the extension of benefits to same-sex partners. I applaud President Obama for the first steps he has taken to bring that about,” Larson said in an emailed statement.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro also supports repealing Section 3 of DOMA.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, U.S. Jim Himes support the full repeal of DOMA.
“Now that marriage equality is a reality in Connecticut, we need the leadership of those who represent us in Washington to eliminate the barrier to equal treatment under federal law for same-sex couples and our families, something that can only happen with the repeal of the discriminatory federal DOMA,” Anne Stanback, executive director of Love Makes a Family, said.