A House bill to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act has now attracted 122 cosponsors—two more than the total number of sponsors from the previous congressional term, when the legislation was first introduced.
A spokesman for Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, lead House sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, told The Advocate Tuesday morning that two additional Democratic representatives, Jim Langevin of Rhode Island and Tim Walz of Minnesota, have signed onto the bill.
“Though House Republican Leaders work hard to slow the pace of civil rights reforms for LGBT Americans, there is no denying that our national movement to repeal DOMA is growing,” Rep. Nadler said in a statement.
“The coalition working for LGBT rights in the congress and the nation as a whole is larger than ever before, and we gain new allies every day. And, just this year, New York State enacted marriage equality, hammering one more nail into the coffin of bigotry and discrimination against gays and lesbians. Dumping DOMA is simply not a question of if but when,” Nadler said.
In the Senate, the current cosponsor tally stands at 30. Last week, Maryland senator Barbara Mikulski announced she would sign onto the bill after the LGBT groups Freedom to Marry, Courage Campaign, and Equality Maryland delivered 3,000 constituent signatures in favor of the legislation to the Democratic senator’s district office in Baltimore.
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