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Supreme Court Strikes Down DOMA

A Jewish view of the landmark decision

by
Adam Chandler
June 26, 2013
A Same-Sex Marriage Advocate Outside the Supreme Court Today(Facebook)
A Same-Sex Marriage Advocate Outside the Supreme Court Today(Facebook)

After decades of struggles, setbacks, nominal gains, legal wrangling, feverish advocacy, and an overdue shift in cultural attitudes, the Supreme Court–at last–struck down the Defense of Marriage Act that denied federal benefits to same-sex spouses. While we wait for the High Court’s forthcoming decision on Proposition 8, the DOMA ruling puts to rest, at least legally, another major obstacle to social equality in the United States.

We’ll be updating more throughout the day and after the next ruling is handed down, but for more context, we’re proud to feature our collection of stories that chronicle the battle for same-sex marriage from its infancy.

Last June, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Eli Sanders profiled the unflappable Faygele ben Miriam, the O.G. of Washington’s push for gay marriage.

Earlier this year, Allison Hoffman wrote about Roberta Kaplan, Edith Windsor’s lawyer in the battle against DOMA, who won the case not just for recognition of Windsor’s marriage, but for her own.

Last year, Rabbi Roni Handler penned a moving personal essay about getting engaged to another rabbi, a woman, and her quest to get her grandmother’s blessing.

For some levity, Jeff Nishball wrote about how, despite being teased about it forever, he chose to keep his name when he got married.

And finally, Seth Goren on how the perks of gay marriage still leave a legislative grey zone when it comes to gay divorce.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.