Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee introduced the latest anti-gay legislation bill, the State Marriage Defense Act.
The bill aims to "amend chapter 1 of title 1, United States Code, with regard to the definition of 'marriage' and 'spouse' for Federal purposes," reports MSNBC.
The goal of the bill would be to leave federal protections and support of same-sex couples up to the state they are living in. If the state doesn't recognize gay marriage, then the couple, and spouse, are out of luck.
American Civil Liberties Union representative Ian Thompson said, "It's a very cynical way of trying to reincarnate DOMA [Defense of Marriage Act] in a new form." He added, "This proposal is really designed to prevent married same-sex couples from receiving federal recognition for their marriages."
According to The Washington Post, Cruz released a statement saying that he is a believer of "traditional marriage" and he isn't a fan of the government forcing all states to recognize same-sex couples towards federal benefits.
The bill is similar to one that Texas Republican Rep. Randy Weber introduced in the House, which tries to masquerade as a protection of state's right's bill, but has the same purpose.
image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
