CT attorney general candidates pledge to join fight against DOMA

The six candidates vying for Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's seat have come clean about their opinions regarding legal support of a federal lawsuit challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bans marriage equality on a federal level and does not require states to recognize same-sex marriages, even if the relationship is legally considered a marriage in another state.

Boston College Law School student Paul Sousa started the "Defend the Law" campaign last summer to urge Blumenthal to join Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's federal lawsuit challenging DOMA. Since Blumenthal has announced his bid for U.S. Senate, Sousa is moving on to the AG's hopeful successors. The Defend the Law campaign sent queries via e-mail, phone calls, and with a March 10 article in the "Hartford Courant."

"To be quite frank," Sousa said, "if an attorney general candidate in a marriage equality state isn't willing to defend state law and defend the citizens of his or her state (who, by the way, are a minority group and have a history of invidious discrimination against them), then perhaps that candidate should be seeking a different profession."

Three Democrats and three Republicans are expected to vie for the position of Connecticut's Attorney General. The conservative candidates -- State Senator Andrew Roraback, attorney Martha Dean, and attorney John Pavia -- are largely against the Constitution State's participation in the lawsuit, but not entirely opposed to marriage equality. "As far as the citizens of Connecticut go, it's settled law," Roraback said of the state's amendment legalizing marriage equality for same-sex couples, which has been in place since November 12, 2008. "I support the law of Connecticut and it would not be a priority of mine to influence the laws of other states. I don't think that's the role of the Connecticut Attorney General. The role of the Connecticut Attorney General is to uphold Connecticut law and protect Connecticut citizens."

The latter statement was echoed by Roraback's Republican colleague John Pavia. "This is an issue for the legislature to decide on a state-by-state basis," he said. "We have more important things to be focused on, like getting people back to work, creating jobs, and lowering taxes. If it were up to me, we would have nothing to do with that case."

Two of the three Democrat AG hopefuls have publicly stated their support for the lawsuit. Former State Senate Majority Leader George Jepsen, who told the "Courant" that he was "very sympathetic to the cause" of marriage equality, later e-mailed the Defend the Law campaign, saying, "I have had the chance to get up to speed on the Massachusetts DOMA suit, and am fully supportive. As Connecticut's AG, I would be willing to file an amicus brief in support, and would solicit the AGs of other states to do so as well." Jepsen also thanked the campaign for bringing this issue to his attention.

State Representative Cameron Staples went on record with the "Courant," saying, "I agree with [Coakley's] position that DOMA violates the equal protection clause...I certainly think all Connecticut citizens deserve the same federal rights they enjoy under state law. I would certainly, if we can, join that suit...or find the right way to participate. ...Pursuing a suit against the federal government is certainly consistent with our responsibility to our citizens under state law."

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz supports marriage equality, and was the last Democratic candidate to announce that she would support the lawsuit against DOMA in a phone call to Sousa on Wednesday, March 17. "As Attorney General, I would uphold the marriage laws of our state, which allow a man and a woman to marry, two women to marry, and two men to marry," she had said earlier in the week, begging off on the DOMA question until she'd had a chance to review the suit.

"I had an opportunity to look at Martha Coakley's lawsuit," Bysiewicz told Sousa. "And I would file suit on behalf of Connecticut because I think it's important that since same-sex couples have marriage rights in Connecticut, then they certainly ought to be entitled to benefits of marriage under federal law. So I would file suit to ensure that Connecticut citizens have the same federal rights and protections of marriage."

As of Wednesday, Bysiewicz's pledge means that all Democratic candidates for this position are in support of the lawsuit that aims to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

A January poll performed by CT's Quinnipiac University has found state Democrats in favor of Bysiewicz by 62%. "Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz has to feel good about her poll numbers," Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD, said of the poll results. "She is the clear favorite over the virtually unknown George Jepsen in the Democratic primary. And her favorability numbers have remained high."

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley reacted to the news of the potential support, saying, "DOMA has an impact on any state that recognizes same-sex marriage. While our lawsuit is focused on DOMA's impact on Massachusetts and Massachusetts families, we welcome the support of other attorneys general." Boston's Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) filed a similar lawsuit, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management -- which challenged the constitutionality of a DOMA provision preventing the federal government from providing certain rights and benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married -- in March 2009.