NBC News: Democratic senators who passed DOMA 17 years ago cheer its end; Republicans mostly quiet
Even in an institution where nothing seems to change, 17 years makes a big difference.
In 1996, the federal Defense of Marriage Act passed both houses of Congress with overwhelming majorities of both parties. There had never been anyone elected to either body who was openly gay when they ran for office. Even now-Vice President Joe Biden, then a senator, voted to define marriage as between one man and one woman for the purpose of federal benefits.
No more. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court declared that 1996 law unconstitutional. (It also paved the way for restoring sex marriage rights in California, though the high court didn't prohibit other states from banning it.)
"Congressional desire," the court held in its majority opinion striking down DOMA, "to harm a politically unpopular group cannot justify disparate treatment of that group."
In 2013's Congress, Democrats celebrated -- even many of those who had voted for the law. Objections from Republicans -- with a few exceptions -- were muted. And there are now a host of gay members of Congress who, along with all gay Americans, have new rights in the wake of the Supreme Court's decisions.
"I feel jubilation, I feel fabulous, I feel every gay word I can think of," said Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the first non-white gay person elected to Congress.