Legislators have introduced a measure in the House of Representatives to repeal the federal law against same-sex marriage. They have 97 co-sponsors so far.

A reader e-mailed us about the measure, wanting to know whether we would move the meter from Stalled to In the Works. A couple of things stop us from changing our rating on this one, though.

The Defense of Marriage Act is a federal law passed in 1996 that says states do not have to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, and that the federal definition of marriage is a union of one man and one woman.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat from New York, introduced a repeal measure on Sept. 15. The proposal would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and says that the federal government will recognize a marriage that is valid in the state it was performed, even if the couple lives in a state where the marriage is not valid.

The White House has not voiced support for the bill. We will be watching to see if President Barack Obama mentions it when he speaks at the annual dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, on Oct. 10, 2009.

Additionally, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, a prominent gay rights supporter, doesn't support the bill because he said it has no chance of passing. His office sent us this statement from Frank when we asked about it:

"I support the repeal of DOMA. But I think it is a mistake to raise the issue of people who are married in one state having legal recognition of any sort in another state. Given that there is no chance of enacting that, I think it will give our opponents a chance to distort things and therefore undercut our efforts on (other) bills we can pass."

We are keeping track of these new developments, but we do not find them significant enough to move the Obameter. The promise remains Stalled.