President Obama is seen on television monitors at the White House on Wednesday.
(Carolyn Kaster – AP)
On the same day President Obama became the first president to fully embrace same-sex marriage, House Republicans once again approved measures that would roll back federal policies favorable to gays and lesbians.
House Republicans successfully added language Wednesday night to an annual Justice Department appropriations bill that bars department officials from using any federal funds to oppose the Defense of Marriage Act. The Obama administration last year said it would no longer defend the federal law that bans the recognition of same-sex marriage because it considers the legislation unconstitutional.
Also Wednesday night, the House Armed Services Committee voted to bar gay and lesbian service members from getting married or holding “marriage-like” ceremonies at military facilities.
Both measures, or similar bills, have been introduced or successfully added to appropriations and authorization measures in recent years, but the proposals are often dropped as part of negotiations over a final version of the bill with Senate Democrats
Regardless, the symbolism of the GOP attempting to roll back gay rights on the same day that the president endorsed same-sex marriage wasn’t lost on some.
“On an historic day and in the dark of night, House Republicans have voted to tie the hands of the Obama Administration with respect to their efforts to end discrimination against America’s families,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in response to the Justice Department measure.
The amendment, introduced by Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), passed late Wednesday, 245 to 171. Huelskamp said he introduced the amendment because “President Obama and the entire Executive Branch are supposed to enforce the laws, not write or erase them. It is not President Obama’s prerogative to decide which laws matter and which do not, nor his right to challenge constitutional amendments duly passed by the various States.”
Over at the armed services panel, Reps. Steve Palazzo (R-Miss.) and Todd Akin (R-Mo.) successfully amended the defense measure Wednesday night to include
This article originally appeared on: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/obama-backs-gay-marriage-house-gop-tries-rolling-back-gay-friendly-policies/2012/05/10/gIQAOKpLFU_blog.html