DOMA was enacted to prevent the State of Hawaii from forcing Same Sex marriage on the whole country through the 4th article of the Constitution.
DOMA forced same sex marriage advocates to go state by state, which is far more appropriate, especially if passed through the legislature instead of through the courts, as it was in MA and IA.
will this then allow gay marriage advocates to force thru something on the national level?
DOMA was enacted to prevent federal benefits like SS, Medicare, federal survivor benefits, and other benefits to same sex marriages. It kept the federal definition of marriage to between a man and a woman.
Can someone tell me if this is the death knell for referendum iniatives?