Editing Defense of Marriage Act (section)

==== Bankruptcy court ====
In May 2011, DOMA-based challenges by the Department of Justice to joint petitions for bankruptcy by married same-sex couples were denied in two cases, one in the Southern District of New York on May 4 and one in the Eastern District of California on May 31. Both rulings stressed practical considerations and avoided ruling on DOMA.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=American Bankruptcy Institute |url=http://blog.startfreshtoday.com/2011/06/articles/practicing-bankruptcy-law/bankruptcy-judge-bypasses-doma-to-allow-joint-bankruptcy-filing-by-samesex-spouses/ |title=Bankruptcy Judge Bypasses DOMA to Allow Joint Bankruptcy Filing by Same-Sex Spouses |date=June 3, 2011 |access-date=June 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610152647/http://blog.startfreshtoday.com/2011/06/articles/practicing-bankruptcy-law/bankruptcy-judge-bypasses-doma-to-allow-joint-bankruptcy-filing-by-samesex-spouses/ |archive-date=June 10, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>''[http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/opinions/cgm/204950_31_opinion.pdf In re Somers and Caggiano] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916131020/http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/opinions/cgm/204950_31_opinion.pdf |date=September 16, 2012 }}'', 10-38296, slip op. (Bky.S.D.N.Y. May 4, 2011). Retrieved June 9, 2011.</ref>

On June 13, 2011, 20 of the 25 judges of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California signed an opinion in the case ''in re Balas and Morales'' that found that a same-sex married couple filing for bankruptcy "have made their case persuasively that DOMA deprives them of the equal protection of the law to which they are entitled." The decision found DOMA Section 3 unconstitutional and dismissed BLAG's objections to the joint filing:<ref>{{cite web |work=Metro Weekly |url=http://metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/06/bankruptcy-court-doma-unconsti.html |first=Chris |last=Geidner |title=Bankruptcy Court: DOMA Unconstitutionally Limits Same-Sex Married Couples From Joint Bankruptcy Filing |date=June 13, 2011 |access-date=June 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617033106/http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/06/bankruptcy-court-doma-unconsti.html |archive-date=June 17, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sdgln.com/causes/2011/06/13/bankruptcy-court-rules-section-3-doma-unconstitutional |title=Bankruptcy Court rules section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional |publisher=SDGLN |date=June 13, 2011 |access-date=June 13, 2011}}</ref>

<blockquote>Although individual members of Congress have every right to express their views and the views of their constituents with respect to their religious beliefs and principles and their personal standards of who may marry whom, this court cannot conclude that Congress is entitled to solemnize such views in the laws of this nation in disregard of the views, legal status and living arrangements of a significant segment of our citizenry that includes the Debtors in this case. To do so violates the Debtors' right to equal protection of those laws embodied in the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. This court cannot conclude from the evidence or the record in this case that any valid governmental interest is advanced by DOMA as applied to the Debtors.</blockquote>

A spokesman for House Speaker Boehner said BLAG would not appeal the ruling,<ref>{{cite news |title=A California Bankruptcy Court Rejects U.S. Law Barring Same-Sex Marriage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/us/politics/15bankruptcy.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 14, 2011 |access-date=June 16, 2011 |first=John |last=Schwartz}}</ref> On July 7, 2011, the DOJ announced that after consultation with BLAG it would no longer raise objections to "bankruptcy petitions filed jointly by same-sex couples who are married under state law".<ref>{{cite web|work=Metro Weekly |url=http://metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/07/us-trustee-withdraws-appeal-of.html |first=Chris |last=Geidner |title=U.S. Trustee Withdraws Appeal of Gay Couple's Bankruptcy Court DOMA Victory |date=July 7, 2011 |access-date=July 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710021212/http://metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/07/us-trustee-withdraws-appeal-of.html |archive-date=July 10, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>