Campaign Promises

Departments -> Justice -> Gay Rights

ItemJustice
Gay RightsGrade
JU-29 The Promise: "I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes."
When/Where: Open Letter from Barack Obama to the LGBT Community dated 02/28/08.
Source: http://bilerico.lgbtqnation.com/2008/02/open_letter_from_barack_obama_to_the_lgb.php
Status:On 04/29/09, Obama verbally supported passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. The House voted in favor of this proposed law on 04/29/9, followed by the Senate on 10/22/09. The bill was attached to the Defense Budget for FY2010, which was signed into law by the President on 10/28/09.

This promise was fulfilled.		1.00
JU-30 The Promise: "Will support "repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions."
When/Where: Open Letter from Barack Obama to the LGBT Community dated 02/28/08.
Source: http://bilerico.lgbtqnation.com/2008/02/open_letter_from_barack_obama_to_the_lgb.php
Status:DOMA is a 1996 law signed by President Bill Clinton that barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case supporting the repeal of the DOMA on 03/27/13 and overturned a provision in the DOMA on 06/26/13 that limited the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This development permitted same-sex marriages to benefit from the same federal benefits afforded to opposite-sex marriages in states where same same-sex unions were legal.

The Supreme Court ruling did not repeal DOMA, as the outright repeal of any law is a legislative branch, not a judicial branch, responsibility.

On 06/26/15, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right. By striking down Section 3 of DOMA, the Supreme Court therefore allowed gay and lesbian couples to marry in all 50 states.

This promise was fulfilled.		1.00