Federal judge says DOMA violates the Constitution

GLAD is tweeting that Judge Joseph Tauro ruled today that the Defense of Marriage Act -- which defines marriage as between one man and one woman -- does violate the equal protection clause in the Constitution. He also issued a decision in a similar case brought by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. I wrote about these cases last month. More soon now. Judge Tauro's decision, and GLAD's press release, can be read here.

The decision in the Coakley case was similarly favorable: "This court has determined that it is clearly within the authority of the Commonwealth to recognize same-sex marriages among its residents, and to afford those individuals in same-sex marriages any benefits, rights, and privileges to which they are entitled by virtue of their marital status. The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and, in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment. For that reason, the statute is invalid."

AMERICAblog Gay has the scoop and the docs as well.