Monica Alcota and Cristina Ojeda on their wedding day. They are involved in an early DOMA test case. (Photo: Maria Watts)
Lawsuits concerning same-sex immigrant couples, in which one of the partners faces deportation, have become a testing ground for the Obama administration’s policy on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman. In February, President Obama announced that his administration considers DOMA unconstitutional and would no longer defend the law in court. However the implementation of that policy is still evolving, leading to uncertainty among those affected by the law.
In this podcast episode journalist Von Diaz speaks with Fi2W executive producer John Rudolph about some recent legal battles, and tells the story of a lesbian couple in Queens, NY whose future largely depends on how DOMA is interpreted and enforced.
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Read Von Diaz’s story about Cristina Ojeda and Monica Alcota
Von Diaz is a Feet in Two Worlds LGBT reporting fellow. Her work, and the work of other Fi2W fellows, is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation.
