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Politics & Government

Federal Court Strikes Down Defense of Marriage Act

Federal Appeals Court in Boston rules that a portion of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act illegally denies benefits to legally-married same-sex couples.

A Federal Appeals court ruled the Defense of Marraige Act is unconsititional in the rights allowed to legally married same-sex couples. 

The ruling stops short of legalizing gay marriage on a national level, leaving it a states rights issue.  California's voter-approved Proposition 8 blocked same-sex marriages in 2008, but has since been declared unconstitional. That ruling, which would have opened the doors for gay marriage in the state, has been on hold pending appeal. 

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