Gay marriage ban pushed again
Eric Johnston, Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network


As the US Senate voted down the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment, leaders in the country's House of Representatives advanced a bill aimed at reigning in courts on same-sex marriage.

Under the measure approved Wednesday by a House panel, the US Supreme Court and other federal courts would be stripped of jurisdiction over federal legislation that gives states the right to decide whether to recognise same-sex marriages.

Specifically, the legislation would prevent federal court challenges to the Defence of Marriage Act, a federal law passed in 1996 that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman and holds that states are not bound to recognise same-sex marriages that might be legally recognised in other states.

The House Judiciary Committee adopted the Marriage Protection Act (MPA) on a near party-line vote of 21-13. Republican officials said the measure would likely come up for debate by the full House next week.