US President Barack Obama on Wednesday hailed the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a law defining marriage as between a man and a woman — a major victory for gay couples.
“I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act,” Obama said shortly after the announcement of the 5-4 decision ending the 1996 law.
“This was discrimination enshrined in law. It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it.”
“We are a people who declared that we are all created equal — and the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”
The striking down of DOMA will allow married gay couples to enjoy the same federal benefits as straight married couples, including with regard to inheritance and hospital visits.
Obama, currently traveling to Africa for a three-nation tour, said he had ordered officials to “ensure this decision, including its implications for federal benefits and obligations, is implemented swiftly and smoothly.”
In addition to striking down the federal law, the Supreme Court threw out an appeal of a ruling against Proposition 8, a California state ban on gay marriage, paving the way for same-sex marriage in the western state.
Obama did not comment on the Proposition 8 ruling.
In a bid to reassure opponents of same-sex marriage, Obama said the rulings would have no effect on how religious institutions define marriage.
Obama, the first US president to come out in support of same-sex marriage, cast the decision as a landmark step in the US struggle for equal rights.
“The laws of our land are catching up to the fundamental truth that millions of Americans hold in our hearts: when all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free,” he said.
Obama applauds high court ruling on gay marriage
