Bob Barr, the Libertarian nominee for president and the main author of the Defense of Marriage Act, says the gay marriage ban that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996 has become the “tail wagging the dog. n a June 2 interview with Southern Voice, Barr delineated between two sections of DOMA: a full faith and credit clause that protects the rights of each state to implement its own definition of marriage and, a section that defines marriage to be between one man and one woman in federal law.
“This [second part] was intended to apply to federal programs, such as survivor benefits, Social Security [and others],” he said.
Barr said it is the second part of DOMA he would work to repeal if elected president.
“Over the years and over the last year since I’ve been more active in the Libertarian Party, I’ve talked with a number of individuals, including members of Outright Libertarians [a gay Libertarian group], and have come to view the second part as having been used as a club, or the tail wagging the dog,” Barr said. “This is not what I intended.”
The recent California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage was “precisely the way I envisioned DOMA working,” he added.
Barr secured the Libertarian Party presidential nomination May 25. He is a former Georgia congressman who represented the state’s 7th District as a Republican from 1995-2003. He left the Republican Party in 2006 to join the Libertarian Party.
Barr says federal gay marriage ban is ‘tail wagging the dog’
Southern Voice, GA
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