MONTPELIER, Vt. -
The state of Vermont has joined a federal lawsuit against the Defense of Marriage Act.
Attorney General Bill Sorrell says the Defense of Marriage Act deprives same-sex couples of federal benefits and unfairly discriminates against them. He wants an appeals court to rule DOMA unconstitutional.
Vermont, New York, and Connecticut, all states where gay marriage is legal, have filed a brief in a case brought by a New York woman who had to pay $350,000 in estate taxes when her partner died.
Several federal judges have already ruled the law is unconstitutional, including a ruling this year in a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts.
