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U.S. State Department
Denies Passport
to "Married"
Homosexual Man
By Thaddeus M.
Baklinski, from the Web, March 29, 2008
MASSACHUSETTS, Mar. 26 -- The
U.S. State Department will not issue a new passport to a homosexual man under
his "married" name, which is a hyphenate combining his and his partner's
surnames. The two homosexuals were "married" in Massachusetts, the only
American state to have legalised same-sex marriage.
The U.S. Government does not recognize same-sex marriage and rejected the man's
passport application citing the Defense of Marriage Act.
"We are unable to comply with your request for a name change based on the
documentation you sent because of the Defense of Marriage Act," the letter of
refusal to Jason Hair-Wynn stated.
The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, was passed by Congress by a vote of 85-14
in the Senate and a vote of 342-67 in the House of Representatives, and was
signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996.
The Act's two main objectives were to provide that no state would be required to
give effect to a law of any other state with respect to a same-sex "marriage",
and to define the words "marriage" and "spouse" for purposes of Federal law.
The Act reads: "No State, territory, or possession of the United States,
or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or
judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe
respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a
marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or
a right or claim arising from such relationship."
"In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling,
regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies
of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one
man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a
person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."
The Sun Chronicle reports that Jason Hair-Wynn had intended to travel to Ghana,
Africa, where homosexuality is illegal and considered a moral aberration.
In September last year, the Ghanaian government banned a homosexual rights
conference that was meant to be held in the city of Koforidua.
The Information Minister, Kwamena Bartels, said the government, "shall not
permit the proposed conference anywhere in Ghana -- homosexuality, lesbianism
and bestiality are offences under the laws of Ghana."
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