Resolution About the Decision of the United States Supreme Court Concerning the Defense of Marriage Act
The statement below was adopted as an OHALAH Board Statement on June 26, 2013. It was adopted as an organization-wide OHALAH and RPA resolution on July 5, 2013.
OHALAH Resolution About the Decision of the United States Supreme Court Concerning the Defense of Marriage ActOHALAH celebrates today’s Supreme Court ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. Today’s victory for human rights doesn’t undo the damage done by yesterday’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act. These two issues — minority voting rights, and the right to marry one’s beloved — intersect. The work of eliminating prejudice and discrimination, and of ensuring that everyone has full and whole access to the equal rights which are our God-given inheritance as human beings, remains ahead of us. The road to liberation is long and there are miles to go before we sleep. But Jewish tradition teaches us to celebrate our victories, even when there is still further we need to go. Today’s step toward freedom is an important one. We applaud the statement, in today’s ruling, that “interference with the equal dignity of same-sex marriages” was DOMA’s essence, and that such interference is unconstitutional. This is a victory for GLBT Americans, and especially for binational GLBT couples who will no longer be forced overseas because they can’t get a spousal visa. Today, we celebrate! And tomorrow we roll up our sleeves and rededicate ourselves to fixing what’s still broken. The work of ensuring equality is not done. When any of us faces institutionalized discrimination, our whole nation is diminished. Yesterday’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act should galvanize us to work toward ending racism and prejudice, both individually and systemically. And today’s ruling on DOMA is still only a step toward true marriage equality. Still, we applaud today’s ruling and we pray that we can continue to perfect our imperfect union. We likewise applaud the result in today’s decision on Proposition 8, which has the effect of legalizing gay marriage in California, but remain concerned that the Court declined for the present to extend those rights throughout the United States. We, therefore, pledge to continue to support marriage equality legislation at the State level as we continue to urge a national solution to this injustice. We join in the Jewish tradition’s blessing for moments like this one: ברוך הטוב והמטיב (Baruch HaTov VeHaMeitiv). “Blessed are you, God, who is good and who does good!”
The statement below was adopted as an OHALAH Board Statement on June 26, 2013. It was adopted as an organization-wide OHALAH and RPA resolution on July 5, 2013.
OHALAH Resolution About the Decision of the United States Supreme Court Concerning the Defense of Marriage ActOHALAH celebrates today’s Supreme Court ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. Today’s victory for human rights doesn’t undo the damage done by yesterday’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act. These two issues — minority voting rights, and the right to marry one’s beloved — intersect. The work of eliminating prejudice and discrimination, and of ensuring that everyone has full and whole access to the equal rights which are our God-given inheritance as human beings, remains ahead of us. The road to liberation is long and there are miles to go before we sleep. But Jewish tradition teaches us to celebrate our victories, even when there is still further we need to go. Today’s step toward freedom is an important one. We applaud the statement, in today’s ruling, that “interference with the equal dignity of same-sex marriages” was DOMA’s essence, and that such interference is unconstitutional. This is a victory for GLBT Americans, and especially for binational GLBT couples who will no longer be forced overseas because they can’t get a spousal visa. Today, we celebrate! And tomorrow we roll up our sleeves and rededicate ourselves to fixing what’s still broken. The work of ensuring equality is not done. When any of us faces institutionalized discrimination, our whole nation is diminished. Yesterday’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act should galvanize us to work toward ending racism and prejudice, both individually and systemically. And today’s ruling on DOMA is still only a step toward true marriage equality. Still, we applaud today’s ruling and we pray that we can continue to perfect our imperfect union. We likewise applaud the result in today’s decision on Proposition 8, which has the effect of legalizing gay marriage in California, but remain concerned that the Court declined for the present to extend those rights throughout the United States. We, therefore, pledge to continue to support marriage equality legislation at the State level as we continue to urge a national solution to this injustice. We join in the Jewish tradition’s blessing for moments like this one: ברוך הטוב והמטיב (Baruch HaTov VeHaMeitiv). “Blessed are you, God, who is good and who does good!”