Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson is lauding the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. He’s had a conflicted relationship with the policy - supporting it just a couple years ago.
But like many of his Democratic colleagues he did a 180 and announced earlier this year that he now supports gay marriage. Nelson says the 5-4 Supreme Court decision was about equality.
“They decided that the Constitution does not allow discrimination against lawfully wedded same sex couples", Nelson said. "I support that decision.”
Now Democrats on Capitol Hill are urging the Obama Administration to quickly extend federal benefits to same sex couples. DOMA touched on more than one thousand federal statutes, including in the military where gays can now serve openly but their spouses have been denied federal benefits.