LGBT Groups: White House DOMA Decision A Big Effing Deal

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LGBT advocacy groups are welcoming the Obama administration’s decision to no longer defend parts of the Defense Of Marriage Act in court.

“I’m feeling great, as you can imagine,” Freedom To Marry Political Director Sean Eldridge told TPM. “This is a huge moment and a huge step forward on our issue of marriage but just for the entire country.”

Eldridge said the move represents “a step forward” for the Obama administration, which had caught flack from LGBT groups and some progressives for defending DOMA — a law signed by President Clinton — in court.

“I think it’s the president and the Department of Justice declaring very clearly that all couples — including same sex couples and their families — deserve equal protection under the law,” he said. “And in this case that means federal marriage discrimination under DOMA must end.”

The Human Rights Campaign — the nation’s largest LGBT group — agreed with Eldridge’s take. In a statement, HRC President Joe Solmonese praised the move on DOMA as a “monumental decision.”

HRC spokesperson Michael Cole-Schwartz told TPM that “it’s hard to read the tea leaves” on Obama’s personal views toward gay marriage based on the decision. Obama has said his opposition to same-sex marriage from the 2008 campaign is beginning to “evolve.”

“We are hopeful that this kind of of move signals that evolution is substantial and can happen quickly,” he said.

Jody Huckaby, Executive Director of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays told TPM she was “heartened to hear” the news of the DOMA decision and called it “another important step on the road to full marriage equality.”

GOProud, the conservative LGBT group at the center of the CPAC controversy this year, came out in strong support of the DOMA decision as well.

“We believe states should be free to make decisions regarding marriage and family laws without the intervention of the federal government,” executive director Jimmy LaSalvia said via e-mail. “The decisions of the each individual state should be respected by the federal government. Accordingly, we support the repeal of DOMA.”

GOProud declined further comment beyond that statement — LaSalvia telling TPM he’s “going to hide under a rock” following the decision.

Update: LaSalvia called later to clarify his remarks to TPM. “Our statement speaks for itself and I did not mean to imply that we are avoiding this issue,” he said.

Additional reporting by Benjy Sarlin

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