Defense of Marriage Act

E286357
United States federal law statute

The Defense of Marriage Act was a 1996 U.S. federal law that defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman and allowed states to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.

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All labels observed (5)

Label Occurrences
Defense of Marriage Act canonical 5
DOMA 1
Defense of Marriage Act, Section 3 1

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal law ⓘ
statute ⓘ
affectedGroup same-sex couples ⓘ
affectedRight marriage recognition ⓘ
allowedStatesTo refuse recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions ⓘ
appliedTo federal benefits ⓘ
federal law ⓘ
federal programs ⓘ
federal regulations ⓘ
chamberInvolved United States House of Representatives ⓘ
United States Senate ⓘ
constitutionalChallenge Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services ⓘ
United States v. Windsor ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInvoked Equal Protection principles ⓘ
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
surface form: Fifth Amendment
country United States of America ⓘ
surface form: United States
dateEnacted 1996-09-21 ⓘ
decidedByCourt Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
definedMarriageAs legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife ⓘ
definedSpouseAs person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife ⓘ
governingLawType federal definition of marriage ⓘ
heldUnconstitutionalBecause violated Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal liberty ⓘ
laterSupersededBy Respect for Marriage Act ⓘ
legalEffect denied federal benefits to same-sex spouses ⓘ
denied federal recognition to same-sex marriages ⓘ
legislativeBody United States Congress ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy Anthony M. Kennedy ⓘ
surface form: Anthony Kennedy
policyArea LGBT rights ⓘ
civil rights ⓘ
family law ⓘ
politicalContext Clinton administration ⓘ
politicalOppositionFrom LGBT rights organizations ⓘ
civil liberties groups ⓘ
politicalSupportFrom many Republicans in Congress ⓘ
publicLawNumber Public Law 104-199 ⓘ
relatedTo Obergefell v. Hodges ⓘ
Respect for Marriage Act ⓘ
same-sex marriage in the United States ⓘ
section Section 2 ⓘ
Section 3 ⓘ
sectionStruckDown Section 3 ⓘ
sectionStruckDownBy United States v. Windsor ⓘ
sectionStruckDownDate 2013-06-26 ⓘ
shortName Defense of Marriage Act self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: DOMA
signedBy Bill Clinton ⓘ
sponsor Bob Barr ⓘ
sponsorChamber United States House of Representatives ⓘ
statusOfSection2 effectively superseded by Obergefell v. Hodges ⓘ
statusOfSection3 invalidated by Supreme Court ⓘ
statutesAtLargeCitation 110 Stat. 2419 ⓘ
yearIntroduced 1996 ⓘ

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Clinton administration → signed → Defense of Marriage Act ⓘ
Windsor v. United States (in part) → challengedStatute → Defense of Marriage Act ⓘ
United States v. Windsor → struckDown → Defense of Marriage Act ⓘ
this entity surface form: Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act
United States v. Windsor → leftIntact → Defense of Marriage Act ⓘ
this entity surface form: Section 2 of the Defense of Marriage Act
United States v. Windsor → relatedStatute → Defense of Marriage Act ⓘ
Defense of Marriage Act → shortName → Defense of Marriage Act self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: DOMA
Edith Schlain Windsor → legalActionAgainst → Defense of Marriage Act ⓘ
this entity surface form: Defense of Marriage Act, Section 3
Windsor → challengedStatute → Defense of Marriage Act ⓘ
subject surface form: United States v. Windsor
Windsor → relatedLegislation → Defense of Marriage Act ⓘ
subject surface form: United States v. Windsor