What's DOMA?

On January 10, 2009, the next nationwide protest takes place focused on DOMA. I know, I was like, what? DOMA stands for the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal bill signed into law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton that says the federal government will not recognize same-sex marriages that occur in the state level. (Yes, even Clinton was against same-sex marriages despite how gay-friendly he says he is.) President-elect Obama is the same way, saying he's for gay rights but probably supportive of the intent of DOMA, to keep marriages recognized as between a man and a woman. So there's a movement to encourage Obama to change his mind and rescind DOMA. So far, there's no San Francisco protest set up yet, but you can take part by signing the online petition to Obama here. Change has to come in the local, state and national level. Even the world level!