Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has signed a brief to the Supreme Court opposing the Defense of Marriage Act (widely known as DOMA) .
Congresswoman Johnson was one of only four of the state’s nine Democratic House members joined the “friends of the court” brief. other members joining were Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, Lloyd Doggett of Austin, Charlie Gonzalez of San Antonio.
As expected, none of the Texas Republicans were among the 130 signers of the brief.
The Supreme Court is deciding the case of Karen Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management, a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act.
The brief exercises the view that gay men and lesbians are an “identifiable minority group,” and that “Congress’s treatment of gay men and lesbians illustrates that this group has been unable to prevent harmful laws or achieve desired policy results that directly impact their lives.”
President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder came to the conclusion last year that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional, and announced the Department of Justice would stop defending it in specific court cases.
“Gay men and lesbians are a historically disfavored minority that has often been targeted for legislative action based on stereotypes and bias, making it inappropriate for courts to grant laws like DOMA the same presumption of validity afforded to most acts of Congress,” the petition states.
Congresswoman Johnson is an original co-sponsor of the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and a member of the House LGBT Equality Caucus.