EA has signed an amicus brief asking to appeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
Love or hate EA, you have to admit that when it comes to LGBT rights and same-sex marriages, they’ve taken a strong public position. Whether in the form of an “It Gets Better” video starring EA employees, openly celebrating Pride month, or responding to an anti-homosexual email campaign, the company has refused to back down from a position of equal civil rights for all. Now the games publisher is hoping to put the issue before the Ninth Circut Court of Appeals via an amicus brief asking that the Defense of Marriage Act be overturned as unconstitutional.
Under the Defense of Marriage Act, no state or political subdivision is required to recognize a same-sex marriage or union if it occurred in another state. DOMA was passed by a majority of both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. Many legislators, including Clinton himself, have since changed their position and advocated for DOMA’s repeal.
The brief itself has been signed by several prominent US employers in a variety of fields, and also includes Google, eBay, Starbucks, CBS, Viacom, and Zynga among a huge list of companies, firms, trade organizations, and even cities. The case is drawing so much attention that this page was added to the Ninth Circut Court of Appeals website to keep the public appraised of current updates.
This isn’t the first time an organization has called to have DOMA repealed, but it does appear to be the first time that the repeal request was made by so many prominent backers. Whether the effort succeeds or not, it’s becoming increasingly clear that in a world where even Archie Comics and Oreo Cookies are standing up for gay rights, DOMA and laws like it might not survive for much longer.
