While he wishes the Obama administration would stop defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, former Obama deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand said he doesn’t expect Congress will ever willingly repeal it.

“I don’t foresee in my lifetime Congress having the guts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We can’t even get workplace protections passed. How do we expect them to take on religious institutions in this country who hold marriage [as an institution] only allowed between a man and a woman?” Hildebrand told Kerry Eleveld, who interviewed him for the Advocate at the Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas this week.

Hildebrand was hailed for his role in helping President Obama win Florida in the 2008 election, but relations between the strategist and the White House hit a rough patch after some accused Obama of slow-walking legislative action on key LGBT issues such as ENDA and the repeal of the military ban on gay troops.

But Wednesday at a gathering of LGBT bloggers and activists before the Netroots Nation kickoff, Hildebrand was given the opportunity to explain why he was involved with the group in just three words.

“Don’t hate Obama,” answered Hildebrand.  ”This is a guy who isn’t going to do things exactly the way you want him to do, but know that his heart is in the right place. He has his priorities, they’re in line with our priorities and he’s going to do them at his pace,” Hildebrand said, expanding on his answer.

When a federal judge in Massachusetts declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional last week, marriage equality advocates celebrated while anti-gay groups grumbled.  But two political centers of gravity–the White House and key Tea Party movement leaders–didn’t want to talk about it.

In fact, a Washington Post story this morning finds some Tea Partiers quietly expressing support for a decision that reinforces states’ rights over the power of the federal government:

“I do think it’s a state’s right,” said Phillip Dennis, Texas state coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots. The group does not take a position on social issues, he said, but personally, “I believe that if the people in Massachusetts want gay people to get married, then they should allow it, just as people in Utah do not support abortion. They should have the right to vote against that.”

Everett Wilkinson, state director for the Florida Tea Party Patriots, agreed: “On the issue [of gay marriage] itself, we have no stance, but any time a state’s rights or powers are encouraged over the federal government, it is a good thing.”

Some reports describe the Tea Party movement as libertarian, but it’s clear many in its ranks don’t support marriage equality.  A New York Times/CBS News poll last April found that just 16 percent of those who support the movement are in favor of allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Meanwhile the White House is keeping a low profile in the wake of the DOMA decision.  The administration still must decide how it will respond, though most observers expect it will appeal the ruling to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.  And while some activists are pushing for the White House to let the decision stand, others wonder whether that would set a dangerous precedent, according to an Associated Press report:

“You want the Department of Justice to stop because you won a case; I understand that,” said [Robert] Raben, who worked at the department during the administration of President Bill Clinton, who signed DOMA into law.

“But you could have a conservative Department of Justice that won’t enforce hate crimes, that won’t enforce employment nondiscrimination acts, that won’t enforce the Ryan White Act, that won’t enforce all kinds of new protections for gays and lesbians because the attorney general doesn’t agree with them. That’s not a regime you want to live in.”

In a landmark decision this afternoon, a Federal District Court judge in Boston has ruled a key provision of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

The case was brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders on behalf of eight couples and three other persons who had been legally married in Massachusetts.  The plaintiffs said DOMA’s section 3, which prohibited federal recognition of legal marriages of same-sex couples, violated the principle of equal protection under the U.S. constitution, and the court agreed.

“This is not a marriage case. If we win, it wouldn’t result in any new marriages. It’s a case where people are already married and they’re being treated differently by the federal government. It’s about equal protection,” Mary Bonauto, lead counsel in the case, told The AmLaw Daily before the decision came down.

If the judge’s decision is upheld by higher courts, the U.S. federal government would have to recognize same-sex couples in legal marriages with regard to multiple federal programs.  The case is Gill, et al vs. Office of Personnel Management, et al.

Visit www.glad.org for updates.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) does not feel that there will be enough support to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act this year, or next.  According to Nadler, sponsor of the DOMA repeal bill, other pro-LGBT bills will take precedence during the next legislative session.

DC Agenda is covering the story:

Nadler said Congress won’t take up the DOMA repeal next year because other LGBT-related bills, including the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation providing partner benefits for LGBT federal workers and a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” are taking precedence. Supporters hope to pass those measures by the end of 2010.

“The Respect for Marriage Act comes up after that, maybe at the end of the next Congress, maybe afterward,” he said.

Fortunately, 2010 may see the passage of another bill Nadler has been pushing, the Uniting American Families Act to remove immigration restrictions on binational couples.

Bilerico founder and editor-in-chief Bil Browning sat down with out Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) at the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference in San Francisco this past weekend to talk about ENDA, DOMA, and other issues facing the LGBT community.

Here’s a clip, posted on Bilerico.com: