"The Administration apparently determined that it had a duty to defend DOMA in the courts. The president has just as strong a duty to put his principles into action, and end discrimination against GLBT people and our families," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "We call on the President to send legislation repealing DOMA to Congress," he added.

This is the latest administration move that has irked gay-rights groups, which also have questioned Obama's commitment to overturning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and complained when he picked Rev. Rick Warren to deliver to deliver the prayer at Obama's inauguration.

A Justice Department spokesman said that administrations typically defend, in court, the laws on the books -- even ones they disagree with. "The president has said he wants to see a legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act because it prevents LGBT couples from being granted equal rights and benefits. However, until Congress passes legislation repealing the law, the administration will continue to defend the statute when it is challenged in the justice system."

On Monday, Joe Solmonese, the president of the establishment gay rights group The Human Rights Campaign, sent an angry letter to the president objecting to the decision by the Obama Justice Department to file a brief defending the Defense of Marriage Act.

"I realized that although I and other LGBT leaders have introduced ourselves to you as policy makers, we clearly have not been heard, and seen, as what we also are: human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal to yours," Solmonese wrote. "I know this because this brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you."

"The government does not state why denying us basic protections promotes anyone else’s marriage, nor why, while our heterosexual neighbors’ marriages should be promoted, our own must be discouraged," Solmonese writes in his letter.

He goes onto single out a portion of the brief referencing a case involving "marriage of uncle to niece" to support the Justice position.

"I cannot overstate the pain that we feel as human beings and as families when we read an argument, presented in federal court, implying that our own marriages have no more constitutional standing than incestuous ones," he writes.

After the brief was filed, CBS News reported that Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said that while the president has said he is committed to repealing DOMA, "until Congress passes legislation repealing the law, the administration will continue to defend the statute when it is challenged in the justice system."

But the president, who is wary of opening up a fight over social issues that could endanger his ambitious agenda on health care and other issues, has not asked Congress to do so. And as blogger and gay rights advocate John Aravosis points out, Justice has chosen not to defend laws in the past, undercutting the implication that the department had no choice but to do so.

Democratic National Committee Treasurer Andrew Tobias is defending a June 25 gay and lesbian fundraiser with Vice President Joe Biden, which is under attack by the movement's grass roots over the administration's legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act.

"If this debacle of a brief represented the president's views, I'd boycott too," Politico reports that Tobias, who is organizing the fundraiser and has been one of the White House's most vocal gay defenders, stated in an e-mail. "Still personally totally believe in the president. His Pride Proclamation, and his call to repeal DOMA, are genuine."

President Obama has declined to take action on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits gays from serving openly in the military, despite campaign promises to do so. While the administration has suggested it is working with the military to repeal the policy responsibly, the Pentagon says there have not been any serious discussions along those lines.

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, who is one of three openly gay or lesbian Members of Congress, made the following statement today during the course of longer remarks at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in observation and celebration of GLBT Pride Month.

"Last week the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of DOMA. I was profoundly disappointed by this action, particularly coming from this administration. I still take President Obama at his word that he is committed to the repeal of DOMA. I also recognize that he cannot do it alone. Congress has the responsibility on its shoulders to pass legislation that would give the opportunity to the President to keep his word and ensure that all married people, including those in same-sex marriages, enjoy the same rights under federal law." —Tim Moran