We [Love Makes a Family] applaud our legal partners at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and the plaintiffs in Gill et al. v. Office of Personnel Management for today's announcement of their legal challenge to the discriminatory "so-called" Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Since November 12th of last year, we have joyfully witnessed the marriages of hundreds of loving, committed same-sex couples in Connecticut. Yet, because of DOMA, each of these couples-from the retired Groton couple married after 30 years together to the teachers in New Haven married on New Year's Eve-is still unfairly denied all the protections that their married, opposite-sex counterparts enjoy.

Marital status is a factor in 1,138 federal laws, and these married same-sex couples are denied every single one of these critical federal protections, including social security survivor benefits, the right to file taxes jointly, and federal employees' and retirees' benefits.

This is about real people's lives and basic fairness. We stand with GLAD in calling for equal treatment under the law for the thousands of married same-sex couples who are woven into the fabric of their communities in countless ways and simply want to take care of each other and their families.