House affirms anti-gay Foxx amendment to Defense budget

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http://goqnotes.com/11646/house-affirms-anti-gay-foxx-amendment-to-defense-budget/

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A North Carolina congresswoman’s Defense Department budget amendment to restrict extension of marriage and other relationship recognition benefits to same-sex couples passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday.

Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, who represent’s North Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District, attached her amendment to the Department of Defense’s budget for the 2012 fiscal year. The amendment requires enforcement of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and bans any use of funds for “benefits, such as housing, education, medical services, transportation, etc., for same-sex couples on the same basis as opposite-sex married couples,” according to a fact sheet.

The amendment passed 248-175.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said the amendment was unnecessary and indicative of Republicans’ efforts to “play politics with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people instead of tackling real problems.”

“This amendment is completely unnecessary and only serves to cloud the debate over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal by pointlessly injecting the issue of marriage equality into the conversation,” Solmonese said in a statement. ” Since Pentagon officials have made it clear that they are bound by DOMA like every other federal agency, it’s puzzling why Rep. Foxx would question whether our military leaders understand this point.”