The so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" (PL 104-199), began life as H.R.3396, and was introduced by Bob Barr, R-GA, who turned out to have most likely cheated on his second wife with the woman who would become his third wife (yeah, he knows something about marriage all right).

It has three sections.

Section one is the title of the act, which is generally shortened to its acronym, DOMA (I can't call it by its full, official name).

Section two relieves states, territories and possessions of the U.S. (and "Indian tribes") from having to accept same-sex marriages performed in other states. It doesn't outright prohibit states from accepting them, merely lets them refuse to do so. This is in direct conflict with Article IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which begins: "Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State."

In other words, section two of DOMA seeks to let states not give "Full Faith and Credit" to same-sex marriages performed in other states; it is clearly unconstitutional.  read more »