DOMA was a 1996 law that prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Section 3 of DOMA specifically prohibited this recognition. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 was unconstitutional as it violated equal protection. While the federal government must now recognize same-sex marriages, states are not required to perform or acknowledge them. The ruling impacts a number of federal benefits provided to married couples.

1. What is DOMA?
The "Defense of Marriage Act," or DOMA, was passed
in 1996 by Congress and signed into law by President
Bill Clinton. The part that was struck down by the U.S.
Supreme Court is called "Section Three," which
prevented the federal government from recognizing any
marriages between gay or lesbian couples for the
purpose of federal laws or programs, even if those
couples are considered legally married by their home
state. The other significant part of DOMA makes it so
that individual states do not legally have to
acknowledge the relationships of gay and lesbian
couples who were married in another state. Only the
section that dealt with federal recognition was ruled
unconstitutional.

2. What is Section Three of DOMA?
Section Three is the part that prevented the
federal government from recognizing any
marriages between gay or lesbian couples for
the purpose of federal laws or
programs, even if those couples are
considered legally married by their home
state. The U.S. Supreme Court has struck
down Section 3, because it violated the
constitution’s “equal protection” promise.

3. Because DOMA was ruled
unconstitutional, does that make marriage
equality legal throughout the country?
No. It means the federal government has to
recognize the legal marriages of same-sex
couples. The ruling does not require any
state to legalize or recognize marriage
equality that has not already done so.

4. How does the ruling on DOMA
affect families?
The ruling on DOMA will have major effects on families concerning a
number of different federal rights which provide necessary marital
benefits. Some areas that are affected include military family
benefits, social security benefits, multiple areas of tax
categories, hospital visitation rights, and healthcare benefits. These
are just a few of the benefits that were denied to families because of
DOMA, but will now be granted to same-sex couples in legal
marriages.
Because the federal government now recognizes benefits under
DOMA, binational couples will be allowed to sponsor foreign-born
spouses for United States residency.

5. What is Prop. 8?
Proposition 8, aka Prop. 8, is an anti-marriage
equality ballot measure that denied California
couples the freedom to marry in
November, 2008. Prior to the passage of this
ballot initiative, the California Supreme Court
ruled in favor of marriage equality in May
2008.

6. What is the status of
Prop 8 right now?
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that proponents
of Prop 8 have no standing to challenge the
decision of the Ninth Circuit Court, which
struck down the anti-gay ballot measure. The
Supreme Court’s ruling will revert to the Ninth
Circuit, which will overturn Prop 8. This
means that same-sex couples in California
will soon be able to marry once again.

7. How do these decisions affect
traditional, heterosexual marriages?
The recent decisions by the Court have no effect
whatsoever on traditional, heterosexual couples
wishing to marry. The county, state and federal
governments of the US have always, and
continue to provide full recognition of traditional
marriages. The only people who will experience
any change in status are same-sex couples who
choose to be married in a state where such
union is legal. Their legal union will now be
recognized on the Federal level.
Information provided through glaad.org