DOMA unconstitutional: question

[tropicsgoddess]

DOMA makes a big mess of things, IMO. If somebody is gay and married in a state that allows same sex marriages, their state may or may not recognize it. But then when it comes to things like taxes and immigration, then they have to put themselves as single and that bars them from benefits that otherwise a heterosexual married couple would get. There's cases where partners were facing deportation because legally the marriage isn't recognized by the federal government. Then you have the tax issue: in their state it may be recognized (if their state has state income taxes. i.e. New York) but on the federal level it's not and that bars them from being able to file jointly and/or jointly claim their children as dependents to get those tax breaks and credits. So sadly in a sense they have to lie about their marital status for legal purposes. What's even trickier is for things like insurance benefits, hospital visitation rights and being Power of Attorney if their partner is incapacitated to make any legal, medical and financial decisions. If the US constitution has an amendment on keeping church and state separate, then that should make DOMA in that sense unconstitutional. Religion is the main reason why so many states will not recognize same sex marriages.