The Obama administration discontinued its support of the Defense of Marriage Act Wednesday. Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder said they deem Section 3 of the law unconstitutional, in a letter sent to Congress.

Following the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010, the administration’s announcement demonstrates its resolve to advance the rights of homosexual Americans. DOMA, made law in 1996, will be enforced until the Supreme Court rules on its constitutionality.

Various lawusits led to move

CNN White House producer Bonney Kapp wrote in a blog post that several lawsuits disputing DOMA moved the administration to review the law and conclude it in need of “heightened scrutiny.” Where previously the Department of Justice would have defended DOMA in federal court, that defense is now discontinued, according to a statement released by Holder.

Section 3 of DOMA, now challenged by the White House, defines marriage as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife” and spouse as “only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.”

Letter states science as reason

In the letter to Congress, Holder states the opposition of the administration to Section 3 when “a growing scientific consensus accepts that sexual orientation is a characteristic that is immutable,” stating that “it is undoubtedly unfair to require sexual orientation to be hidden from view to avoid discrimination.”

Texas Representative Lamar Smith, a Republican, told the New York Times that the administration’s decision was a politicization of the Department of Justice, while gay rights lobbyists and other supporters applaud the White House.