Pelosi's Reaction to Bachmann Statements on DOMA: 'Who Cares?'

Nancy Pelosi responded with just two words to Michele Bachmann's statement that "no man, not even a Supreme Court, can undo what a holy God has instituted" after the Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional: "Who cares?"

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) took it a step further, and attempted to educate Bachmann on how government works, according to Gawker.

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"We're not dealing with religious belief in all these questions," he said. "We're dealing with what the state or the federal government does. We have a separation of church and state in this country. So for government purposes, you can be married. The church may not recognize this. That's their business. If you don't want to recognize it from a religious point of view, it's your business. No one is forcing anybody to get married. The point of the separation of church and state is that when we deal with public business and the...celebration of marriage by the state, the recognition by the state of who's married is not a religious question."

The United States Supreme Court declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional Wednesday in a 5-4 decision that angered conservative Republicans, but signaled more acceptance regarding the recognition of same-sex marriages.

The decision will extend federal benefits to legally married gay couples. The Court also dismissed California's Prop 8 law, which banned gay marriage in the state. The court, however, fell short of a landmark ruling endorsing a fundamental right for gay people to marry.

The rulings continue a wave of progress from gay marriage advocates in recent months and years in the U.S. and internationally, as opinion polls show an increase in American public support. The Huffington Post reported supporters of same-sex marriage chanted "DOMA is Dead" and cheered after word surfaced of the Supreme Court's decision to strike the 1996 legislation that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Others hugged each other and celebrated wildly.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, and was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito dissented.



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