Homosexual activists recently filed suit against the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.

The lawsuit — filed in Boston by the group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) on behalf of several homosexual “couples” and three individuals — asks a federal judge to declare unconstitutional portions of the measure which places the traditional view of marriage into law. In the suit, GLAD argues that Section 3 of DOMA “creates a system of first- and second-class marriages” in which the former receive all federal legal protections, while the latter are denied them — “even while taking on the responsibilities of legal marriage.”

Despite that argument, Alliance Defense Fund attorney Brian Raum says the legal challenge is really not about benefits.

“It’s about a direct challenge [to] the definition of marriage which the federal government has adopted and recognized to be between a man and a woman,” the attorney explains.

And it is an assault on states as well, says Raum.

“Forty-five states have marriage laws which recognize that marriage is between a man and a woman. [And] 30 states have passed marriage amendments that reflect the true definition of marriage,” he points out. “So this is a direct attack on the will of the American people in the federal public policy regarding marriage.”

ADF’s role in the lawsuit will be defined as it progresses but, at a minimum, the organization will submit a friend-of-the-court brief.

DOMA was passed overwhelming by Congress and then signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996.