I am a gay man who came of age as a young adult in the 1980's.
I moved from east coast to California in 1990.
I came out to my family in 1991 after meeting the love of my life.
We decided get married in 1993 and since gay marriage wasn't even a political issue back then, never mind the law of the land, we ended up having to do it our way, with a Libertarian minister and friends. But we were unable to secure any of the legal rights bestowed on straight couples.
My husband got sick the next year and was in the hospital, and passed away. It was a nightmare - I had no legal standing to make decisions on his healthcare and his family was on the east coast, and they had to make all the decisions. I wasn't even allowed to go into intensive care while he was sick because I wasn't a "family" member.
My situation was similar to what many gay couples were experiencing at the time. And as time went by, relationships became more complicated, with gay couples deciding to start families, but again, society offered no legal protections. And more and more gay couples were put in legal jeopardy, or they had to spend thousands of dollar in legal fees to protect their families.
Fast forward to 1996. President Bill Clinton, with the GOP, and most Democrats in Congress, passes DOMA. It was a typical Bill Clinton move to appeal to right of center voters in places like Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, western Ohio, and the Florida Panhandle by stripping away the dignity from the LGBT community. It was all about the politics - just like it was in 1992 with his "Sister Souljah" moment - nothing but politics. And to be frank, Clinton's strategy worked in both instances. Clinton was the master of using base Democratic voters as scapegoats in order to secure the votes from the "Bubba" voters who normally voted for GOP presidential candidates.
Imagine the impact on gay families from 1996 to June of 2015, as a result of DOMA. 19 years!! Bill Clinton owns this.
Sorry, but I won't defend Bill Clinton on any of this. Clinton threw the gay community under the bus in order to get re-elected. And now Hillary Clinton is trying to re-write history for her own political gain and I find it appalling. Even Hillary Rosen has spoken out against Clinton's attempt to re-write history and Rosen has always been one of the Clinton's biggest backers.