Although the new administration’s “Agenda” website refers to marriage only twice on its “Family” page (once in the context of calling for a change in the marriage penalty for Earned Income Tax Credit and once referring to the need to remove “some of the government penalties on married families”), the subject is more prominent on the “Civil Rights” page.

The marriage-related promises include:

• Creating an alternative legal status providing all the benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. “President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.”
• Repealing the Federal Defense of Marriage Act which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman for federal purposes and prevents one state from being forced to recognize a same-sex marriage contracted in another state. “Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions.”
• Opposition to a national amendment protecting the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. “Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.”
• Entirely de-linking marriage and adoption. “President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.”

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