Breaking: Huge Marriage Equality Victories

In two separate cases today, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional.

In less than an hour, I’m sure, you won’t be able to swing a virtual cat in the LGBT blogosphere without hitting an article about this. To get you started, here’s Lisa Keen’s coverage, which lays out the legal arguments nicely for us non-lawyers; GLAD’s page about their case, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management (argued by Mary Bonauto, who first won marriage equality in Massachusetts back in 2004) and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s statement in her case, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Health and Human Services.

Both cases will proceed to the U.S. Court of Appeals—but this is nonetheless an important first step.

Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling in the Proposition 8 case in California is still pending, but could happen any day now.

Photo: Banner in Cambridge, Mass. City Hall. ©2009 Dana Rudolph