The fight for same-sex and interracial marriage has been a long and arduous battle. The Respect for Marriage Act was enacted on Tuesday by President Biden.
“Today, Congress took a critical step to ensure that Americans have the right to marry the person they love,” Biden said in a statement last Thursday after the House passed the Act and was later passed in the Senate.
Twelve out of the 50 Republican Senators voted for the bill. Thirty-nine House Republicans supported the Act, which helped pass the landmark legislation with a 258-169 vote.
This increase in Republican voters reflects the party’s increase in support of same-sex marriage.
Among the Republican voters were House Republican Conference Chair Representative Elise Stefanik (R-New York) and incoming Majority Whip-elect Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).
Representative Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina.) explained why she voted in favor of the act in a statement saying, “the right to marry whoever you love regardless of the color of your skin or orientation shouldn’t be controversial.”
“Our nation was built on the notion of individual liberty.”
Passed in 1996 by former President Bill Clinton (Democrat), the Defense of Marriage Act was discriminatory towards same-sex marriages. Section 2 of the act allowed states to refuse to recognize the civil marriages of same-sex couples. Section 3 stated these couples would be ruled out of all federal statutes, regulations and rulings, which was not something straight couples had to adhere to. The section essentially denied these couples over 1,100 federal benefits and protections.
In 2013, the Supreme Court’s Windsor v. United States invalidated Section 3, and in 2015, Obergefell v. Hodges invalidated Section 2.
The Respect for Marriage Act grants total federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriage in addition to requiring these marriages to be legally recognized within the United States.
This comes amid increasing societal support for marriage diversity. Today, 71% of Americans support same-sex marriage, which is up from 24% back in 2004, according to Gallup.
