U.S. Capitol building. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Just before midnight on Nov. 17, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that consideration of the Respect for Marriage Act and an associated amendment will resume on Nov. 28, when the chamber reconvenes following the Thanksgiving break.
The historic legislation would preserve the more than 1,100 rights and benefits enjoyed by married same-sex couples regardless of whether the constitutional right to marriage equality survives the U.S. Supreme Court’s supermajority.
Support for the Respect for Marriage Act is bipartisan, with a dozen Republican Senators joining the entire Democratic caucus in a cloture vote yesterday to advance the bill to a full floor vote. Likewise, this summer, the House passed its version of the Respect for Marriage Act with unanimous support from Democratic members and 47 of their Republican colleagues.
President Joe Biden has urged Congress to expeditiously send the Respect for Marriage Act to his desk where it will become law.
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who is a lesbian, was widely credited with building momentum for the legislation and forging consensus among members of the upper chamber. On Thursday, she spoke in personal terms about the bill in an address to her colleagues from the Senate floor.
Writing a concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas “said the rationale used to overturn Roe v. Wade should be used to overturn cases establishing rights to contraception, same-sex sexual relations, and same-sex marriage,” Baldwin said.
With the Respect for Marriage Act, she said, “Congress is acting with the full throated endorsement of the American people” because the Supreme Court “should not be in the position to undermine the stability of families with the stroke of a pen.”
Also addressing their colleagues today with messages of support for the bill were Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who have all been vocal champions of the Respect for Marriage Act. These lawmakers worked to ensure concerns among some in the Republican caucus were assuaged with an amendment that preserves “religious liberties” and upholds “conscience protections.”
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: nationallgbtmediaassociation.com.
