'A Historic Day': Easton Area Reacts to DOMA Decision

Written by Mary Ellen Alu and Tom Coombe

Wednesday's highly awaited U.S. Supreme Court rulings struck down the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, expanding gay rights and paving the way for same-sex marriage in California.

At issue was the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibited same-sex couples legally married in their states from sharing in each other’s federal marriage benefits. 

In its landmark 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled DOMA to be unconstitutional. This opens the way for same-sex couples to file joint tax returns, for example, and file for Social Security survivor benefits.

Also at issue was the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage.  The high court ruled that the same-sex marriage opponents did not have the constitutional standing to appeal a lower-court ruling that had overturned the law.

Those feelings were evident Wednesday on the Easton Patch Facebook page, where one reader held to the idea that the Bible forbids same sex marriage, while others said "It's about time."

"Certainly same sex couples may take out home and auto loans and combine their other expenses and savings as do married couples, so it only stands to reason that they should have the opportunity to share other benefits such as healthcare and other types of memberships," wrote reader Nancy Geils. "Any thing less is discrimination and should have been fixed long ago."

Another reader, Brooke McCoy, wrote that no matter what the Bible says about marriage, its key message is about love.

"We all sin, and there are no greater sins or lesser sins," she wrote. "But, we should always love one another, and denying rights to others is never a loving action."

"It's truly a historic day," said Adrian Shanker, president of Equality PA, and one of the architect's of Easton's same sex partnership benefits ordinance.

And U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, whose district includes Easton, said that while there was more work to be done on the state level, the ruling paved the way toward the idea of "equality for all."

"The Defense of Marriage Act treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people," he said. "The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it."

Shanker expressed a cautious sense of victory. He noted the high court stopped short of making a ruling that would have created a constitutional right to marry.

"It's important to remember that while these rulings are very positive...we still have much more work to do to be fully equal," he said.

Shanker said that LGBT equality is about more than just marriage, but the rulings, especially on DOMA, were a good jumping off point. 

Shanker said the Proposition 8 decision could affect people in Pennsylvania, as same sex couples in the state had chosen to get married in California.

"To be honest, my mind right now is an interesting emotional place," he said.

He and his husband married in Connecticut earlier this year, and are waiting to see how the DOMA ruling will affect them. A lot of couples will be doing the same, Shanker said. 

There are still questions to be answered, and more legislation to be passed.

"This is not a done deal," he said, "but it's certainly a landmark day."

Where do you stand on the issue? Do you agree or disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings?