For Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, Wednesday was cause for celebration. As the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act 5-4, Segarra, the first elected mayor of a major U.S. city in a legally-recognized, same-sex marriage, said the landmark decision strikes “particularly close to home.”
“I am extremely pleased the Supreme Court has invalidated DOMA on equal protection grounds, recognizing that all married couples—regardless of sex—are entitled to the same set of rights. This is a tremendous step forward for marriage equality, and for equal rights as a whole,” he said in a statement released on Wednesday following the decision.
Segarra said he hopes that the ruling will prompt other states to follow Connecticut’s example regarding marriage equality, as less than a third of Americans live in states where same-sex marriages are recognized.
According to ABC News, the Supreme Court’s decision said DOMA “violates basic due process and equal protection principles applicable to the federal government. Under DOMA same-sex married couples have their lives burdened, by reason of government decree, in visible and public ways.”
