R.I.P. DOMA!

The Supreme Court of the United States made history for the LGBT community of America by beginning to rewrite its future: DOMA is dead.

Yes! Equality will prevail!

In a 5-4 decision, SCOTUS struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage act, which prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage, by ruling that DOMA is an unconstitutional deprivation of equal liberty, a violation of the Fifth Amendment.

Same-sex couples will now have such federal benefits as tax breaks and insurance for government employees.

Alright...right on! Now, what does this mean for binational same-sex couples and their immigration rights? Gotta know now.

Photo: NPR.org.

Update 1: Got questions about what this means for immigration, like I did? Then check out this comprehensive list of answers from Immigration Equality.

Update 2: Prop 8 has no standing! Right on for California!

Update 3: Click here for Hollywood’s reaction to the awesome news, including that of Kristen Bell, Damon Lindelof, and Sandra Bernhard.

And here for Madonna’s gleeful reaction to the ruling.

Update 4: Check out what Edie Windsor, the woman who filed the original case that led to his watershed moment, had to say about today’s decision.

“We won everything we asked and hoped for,” she said.

Nothing more and, thank goodness, nothing less. Equal.

Thank you, Edie!

Update 5: Barack Obama and the Clintons also have expressed their joy over the SCOTUS ruling in favor of equality.

In the case of Bill Clinton it holds a little extra significance, for he infamously signed DOMA into law back in ’96.

Update 6: So has Macklemore.