The Acts of Convention

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention call on Congress to repeal the so-called “Defense of Marriage” statute passed on September 21, 1996 [Public Law No. 104-199, 110 Stat. 2419, codified at 1 U.S.C. § 7 and 28 U.S.C. § 1738C]; and be it further

Resolved, That the Convention call on all Episcopalians to work against the passage of so-called “Defense of Marriage” state statutes and state constitutional amendments, and, in states where such statutes or constitutional amendments already exist, to work for their repeal.

Referenced Statutory Language:

28 U.S.C. Section 1738C reads as follows: “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.”

1 U.S.C. Section 7 reads as follows: “In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or 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.”