Bill to protect same-sex marriage in the US passes House vote
The 'Respect for Marriage Act' passed 258-169!
Marriage equality between same-sex couples and their mixed-sex counterparts looks set to be enshrined in US law after passing a House of Representatives vote.
The House voted 258-169, meaning the legislation will be passed to US President Joe Biden to sign. The bill also protects interracial marriage.
It already passed the Senate in a 61-36 vote last week, and was passed by the House today. [Thursday 8 December 2022].
Democrats were unified in favour of the bill, according to NBC, while most Republicans voted against it. Some 39 House Republicans supported the legislation, however.
“Respect for love so powerful that it binds two people together”
“Today, we stand up to the values the vast majority of Americans hold dear – a belief in the dignity, beauty and divinity in every person in abiding respect for love so powerful that it binds two people together,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commented.
The US achieved country-wide marriage equality in 2015, after the Supreme Court struck down all state bans, legalising it in 50 states.
The new bill supports same-sex marriage rights in federal law, further solidifying nationwide protections under the prior Supreme Court ruling.
Additionally, the act will require states to recognise valid same-sex marriages that took place in other states as well as ensuring federal benefits are also accessible to married same-sex couples.
The act does not set a national requirement that all states must legalise same-sex marriage, however.
The ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ follows the Supreme Court this year overturning Roe v. Wade – a 1973 ruling that legalised abortion nationwide in the US – thus allowing many conservative states to restrict or ban abortions.