Supreme Court repeals DOMA
Lesbian step-mom, Marcia Szymanski, weighs in on the ruling
In July, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision favoring gay marriage.
With that ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that DOMA, the Defense of
Marriage Act, is unconstitutional as a deprivation of equal liberty for all who
are protected by the Fifth Amendment.
"I was very excited when I heard the news from the Supreme Court," says
Marcia. "I called Sharon right away."
Prior to the July court ruling, DOMA prevented the federal government
from recognizing any marriages other than those between a man and woman.
This meant same-sex couples legally married in states that recognize same-sex
marriages were barred from receiving federal benefits, like joint tax filing,
survivorship benefits, immigration sponsorship and veterans' benefits.
"This ruling means we will finally get full recognition of our family," says
Marcia. "We'll finally have access to the things that heterosexual married
couples take for granted." Marcia went on to say the ruling more specifically affects her relationship with
Sharon's children.
Now Marcia will have full recognition as Mollie and Jacob's step-parent in federal jurisdictions and
benefits, which is important because Mollie is disabled. For Marcia, she is most looking forward to being
able to file a joint federal tax return and avoiding the headache of filing separate federal tax returns
and joint state tax returns.
22
Hudson Valley Parent
August 2013
cover kids
