US lawmakers opposed to a 1996 law that bars the US government from recognizing same-sex marriages will launch a campaign Tuesday to repeal the ban, leaders of the group said Monday.
Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler and two openly gay members of the House of Representatives -- Democrats Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis -- will unveil legislation to scrap the Defense of Marriage Act, they said.The bill, details of which were to be unveiled Tuesday, has the support of at least 75 lawmakers, according to a spokesman for Nadler, Ilan Kayatsky.
The 1996 law says no state needs to honor a same-sex marriage performed in another state as legal and defines marriage for the US government as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman.
In June, New Hampshire became the sixth US state to legalize same-sex marriage, and supporters of recognizing such unions say they hope for US President Barack Obama's help in repealing the federal ban.
Source-AFP
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