WASHINGTON — In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.

Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act ‘contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships – precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution’s)Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against.’

The Justice Department had defended the act in court until now.

‘Much of the legal landscape has changed in the 15 years since Congress passed’ the Defense of Marriage Act, Holder said in a statement. He noted that the Supreme Court has ruled that laws criminalizing homosexual conduct are unconstitutional and that Congress has repealed the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said Obama himself is still ‘grappling’ with his personal view of gay marriage but has always personally opposed the Defense of Marriage Act as ‘unnecessary and unfair.’

Holder wrote to House […]