The magnificent Cadet Chapel at West Point will be host to its first gay wedding today.
Though USA Today reports that "the 1996 Defense Of Marriage Act still prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and says that states cannot be forced to recognize them.
New York's legislature approved gay marriage in June 2011, and in October, a federal appeals court in the state ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional."
No appeal to the US Supreme Court has been made on this issue and since the Obama Administration is responsible for appealing the federal court's decision regarding DOMA, my guess is that we will not see such an appeal occur.
The seal of the federal government is now upon this federally prohibited issue.
Amazing.
To hold a wedding at the Cadet Chapel one of the spouses must be a graduate of the United States Military Academy.
USA Today reports: "(Brenda Sue Fulton) graduated from West Point in 1980, part of the first class of cadets
that included women, and later founded an organization called
KnightsOut, which describes itself as "an organization of West Point
Alumni, Staff and Faculty who are united in supporting the rights of
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender soldiers to openly serve their
country."
I was at West Point the very last year it was an all-male school (1976). I remember hearing all the cries of old grads that bringing women to the Academy would "do great damage" to the institution.
The federal government however ruled in favor of women - that they had the right to be educated at West Point.
This is the same federal government that ruled in favor of DOMA.
Such an inconsistency cannot be easily ignored.
Den
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