The Senate Judiciary Committee was supposed to begin debate today on the repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a move that brought high praise from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who called it a chance “to end the discrimination that is currently enshrined into U.S. law.”
“Marriage is the true foundation for strong families,” Sen. Gillibrand said in a statment. “Every loving, committed couple deserves the basic human right to get married, start a family, and have access to all the same rights and privileges that my husband and I enjoy. No politician should stand in the way of this fact.”
Sen. Gillibrand has been on the leading proponents of marriage–and of larger LGBT–equality, working to end the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell provisions that prohibited openly gay soldiers from serving, and co-sponsoring the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA.
In her statement, Ms. Gillibrand pointed to the example of New York, which recently enshirned marriage equality into law.
“If Democrats and Republicans can come together to do what’s right in New York, I know we can do the same in Congress to do what’s right for all of America. Now is the time to act on the federal level.”
Update: Ms. Gillibrand spoke too soon–later Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy announced during the g that Senator Charles Grassely, the ranking Republican on the committee, had asked that the vote on the Respect for Marriage Act be held over until next week.
