Casey & DOMA

In his guest column below my friend Kirk found an interesting quote from Bob Casey. He cites him saying this at the Democratic State Committee meeting this past March:

“I don’t support gay marriage, but I also don’t support a constitutional amendment banning it. That would be tremendously divisive. However, I do support same sex unions that would give gay couples all the rights, privileges and protections of marriage.”

This is interesting because this is what he said to Philadelphia Daily News columnist Gar Joseph a year before:

"I support the Defense of Marriage Act [passed in 1996, it defines marriage as a union of a man and woman] and a number of states have passed similar measures. But to have a great constitutional debate about this issue is completely unnecessary. "

The Daily News article isn't available any longer but I have hard copies. The Defense of Marriage Act is the legislation that prevents glbt couples from having the same rights as married couples, whether you call it marriage or civil unions. You cannot support equal rights and DOMA at the same time because one cancels out the other. Which position does Mr. Casey support?