Today, in response to news that President Obama has instructed the federal government to no longer defend Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell stated:

The decision to stop defending this egregious, unconstitutional statute is an exceedingly important step in making Marriage Equality a reality for all Americans. I applaud President Obama and Attorney General Holder for taking a stand on the issue and recognizing the truly indefensible nature of the inaptly named ‘Defense of Marriage Act.’ Without leadership at the highest levels, our country cannot, and will not, move forward on issues so central to what it means to be an American. I look forward to the day when each American is able to marry the individual he or she loves and everyone enjoys the full rights to which every citizen is entitled.

As the leader of the Marriage Equality effort in New York State and member of the New York State Assembly who successfully shepherded the Marriage Equality Act to passage in the Assembly three times since 2007, O’Donnell joined Deborah Glick in the Assembly in 2003 as one of the two representatives from the LGBT community.