Gay rights activists in Buffalo are celebrating Wednesday's Supreme Court decision declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
Kitty Lambert Rudd, president of OUTspoken for Equality in Buffalo, tells WBFO News it is an "amazing" day.
"It's as exciting as that moment that New York State passed marriage," said Lambert Rudd.
Lambert Rudd and her partner, Cheryl Rudd, were one of the first local couples to marry two years ago after New York State legalized same-sex marriage.
The DOMA ruling means legally married same-sex couples will now receive the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples.
"My wife and I will be able to collect each others Social Security benefits should one of us die, which will allow us to keep our home and our standard of living," said Lambert.
Byran Bryan Ball is president of Stonewall Democrats of Western New York. He sat with Lambert Rudd to discuss Wednesday's DOMA ruling.
"Over joyous victory," said Ball. "It means to be able enter into a marriage and be able to file taxes jointing, access to Social Security equally, like any other American family."
U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins issued a statement in response to the ruling:
“In its decision to rule DOMA unconstitutional, the Supreme Court recognized what New Yorkers already know: that a family is a family and, regardless of the gender of its spouses, it deserves equal protection under the law. This decision rightly acknowledges that all couples who are legally married deserve the same federal recognitions and rights.
“Our nation was founded on the basic values of freedom and equality and we must stand by these core principles. Today marks an important step forward in the fight for marriage equality. I look forward to legislatively repealing DOMA in its entirety as a cosponsor, along with 100 of my colleagues in Congress, of Congressman Jerry Nadler’s Respect for Marriage Act.
“And while I would have preferred the Court to overturn California’s Proposition 8, by declining to decide the case the Court allows same-sex marriages to resume in California. The effect will be to secure marriage equality in the most populous state in our union. I am proud that New York is one of 12 -- now 13 -- states with marriage equality and look forward to the day when Americans in all 50 states have the right to marry the individual they love, regardless of gender.”
A pioneering academic and gay activist at the University at Buffalo is also praising the decision. Art historian Jonathan D. Katz, UB professor of visual studies and founder of the Harvey Milk Institute in San Francisco, is one of nation’s most prominent experts in queer studies, the academic discipline examining sexual orientation and gender identity.
“DOMA was our Jim Crow, a law that made manifest our inequality, our status as second-class citizens who could be discriminated against with legal impunity,” Katz said. “With its demise, same-sex marriage now has real teeth, real tangible benefits. We will see a huge upsurge in same sex marriages in the next year as many more couples opt for the real, as opposed to the largely symbolic, state benefits of marriage."
But not everyone is applauding the decision. The leader of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo calls it a "tragic day for marriage and for our nation."
Bishop Richard Malone issued the following written statement Wednesday afternoon:
"This is truly a tragic day for marriage and for our nation. Today’s Supreme Court decision on the unconstitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) goes against everything human reason teaches us about marriage -- it is the union of one man and one woman open to the birth and rearing of children. Marriage between one man and one woman is not the same as same-sex relationships. Therefore treating them differently is not unjust discrimination and should not be ruled as such.
Promoting and protecting marriage in the law is essential to securing the common good, especially the good of children who have a basic right to be raised by their own mother and father. If the law does not respect truth, it undermines the common good. Overturning DOMA gravely impacts the institution of marriage and the religious freedoms of those who uphold marriage and oppose its redefinition.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York stated, “The Court got it wrong.” We agree that the preservation of liberty and justice requires that all laws, federal and state, respect the truth, including the truth about marriage. Because today’s society may not support marriage does not mean that we should not.
We must pledge to work for the restoration of the true meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, as God has created it to be. We cannot surrender to the growing distortion of what God has created marriage to be, even if that distortion has been made law in our own state.
We must urge our leaders to defend and restore the true meaning of marriage. We pray for those who may suffer the consequences of the Supreme Court’s mistaken decision."