— Washington On Thursday, the House is expected to adopt a bill that grants federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, sending the historic bill to President Biden for his signature.
The Respect for Marriage Act is anticipated to receive bipartisan support in the Democratic-led House, as the Senate passed a version of the law this summer with the support of 47 Republicans.
The legislation is likely to be one of the final important legislative achievements of the Democratic House before the party cedes control of the lower chamber to the Republican Party in January.
The House decision comes a week after the Senate approved the law by a vote of 61 to 36, with 12 Republicans in favor. After the initial House-passed bill was altered to include an amendment protecting religious liberty, Republican senators supported the plan more broadly.
Respect for Marriage Act was among the first legislative measures enacted by the House following the Supreme Court’s ruling in June to restrict the constitutional right to abortion. Concerned by Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion urging the Supreme Court to reconsider other landmark cases, including the 2015 decision recognizing the right to same-sex marriage, Democrats moved swiftly to codify marriage equality in federal law.
The bill repeals the Defense of Marriage Act of the Clinton administration, which denied federal benefits and recognition to same-sex couples, and protects marriages by mandating that valid marriages be recognized regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.”
After Senate Republicans expressed concerns that the initial plan would violate religious freedom, a bipartisan group in the Senate negotiated amendments to the bill to protect religious liberty and conscience protections available under the Constitution and federal law.
The agreement on the revised legislation was crucial because it generated the Republican support necessary to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, paving the way for the bill’s final passage.
The anticipated passage of the bill — especially with bipartisan majorities — would be a watershed moment for the LGBTQ rights movement and a sign of the American public’s shifting views on same-sex marriage. According to a June 2021 Gallup poll, support for gay marriage has reached an all-time high.
However, it also revealed the growing anxiety among Democrats that other rights secured by earlier Supreme Court rulings may be at risk from the court’s enlarged conservative majority. The House also passed legislation aimed at restoring abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and protecting access to birth control. However, neither of these bills would pass the 50-50 Senate.
At the request of Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, and the bipartisan group of senators involved in negotiations over the plan, movement through the Senate was delayed until after the November midterm elections.
However, once the agreement on religious liberty protections was reached, the Senate moved swiftly to advance the bill.
»The House is preparing to vote on a historic marriage equality bill«