The Defense of Marriage Act was one of the biggest hot-button issues last year when, after more than a decade of being in place, the law, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriages, was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. Ironically though, the creator of the law, former President Bill Clinton, pushed for the law to be struck down months before it was. Now, Clinton is going even further and recently praised the woman who challenged the law in court.
According to the New York Times, as a part of Logo TV’s Trailblazer Awards, which aim to honor LGBT activists and heroes, Clinton has created a video message to be broadcast during the show that will include his public praise of Edith Windsor, the plaintiff in the case against DOMA, and Roberta Kaplan, who was integral in helping seal the fate of the law he signed into existence in 1996.
“As marriage equality spreads across the states, the number of people impacted by these two amazing women will only continue to grow,” Mr. Clinton said, according to a transcript of his comments.
Before the Supreme Court decision, Clinton wrote a high-profile op-ed in The Washington Post, writing that “as the president who signed the act into law, I have come to believe that DOMA is contrary to those principles and, in fact, incompatible with our Constitution.”
We commend Clinton on his progress in supporting the LGBT community and we also salute Windsor and Kaplan for their pivotal roles in the LGBT equality movement. –nicholas robinson
