User Clip: Nancy McDonald, Vice President of PFLAG National, opening remarks at DOMA hearing on May 18, 1996

Nancy McDonald of Tulsa, Okla., and then-Vice President of PFLAG National, was the only parent of an LGBTQ+ person asked to testify before the House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing about same-sex marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). These are Nancy's opening remarks. Nancy served as President of PFLAG National from 1996-1998 and is credited with leading the organization when PFLAG formally included transgender people in its mission. PFLAG was the first national organization to do so. While DOMA was eventually signed into law in 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court later struck down DOMA in its Obergafell v. Hodges decision. The 2022 law, the Respect for Marriage Act, now guarantees federal recognition of marriage for same-gender couples and interracial couples. close