Gay couples ask judge to toss US marriage law (AP) – NIMBRUNG.NET

BOSTON – Seven gay couples and three widowers who married in Massachusetts after it became the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage went to court Thursday to challenge the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The couples filed a lawsuit last year, arguing that the Defense of Marriage Act is discriminatory because it denies same-sex couples access to federal benefits given to heterosexual couples. U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro held the first hearing in the case Thursday.

The couples include a Social Security Administration retiree who was denied health insurance for his spouse; three widowers who were denied death benefits for funeral expenses; and couples who have paid more in taxes because they are not allowed to file joint returns.

Mary Bonauto, an attorney with Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, said the 1996 law, known as DOMA, got the federal government involved in regulating marriage, something it had left to the states for more than 200 years. She said the law denies gay couples access to more than 1,000 federal programs and legal protections in which marriage is a factor.

“What DOMA does is negate their marital status,” Bonauto argued during the hearing.

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