Nearly 30 years after first voting to limit gay rights, President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law a bill that protects them.
The Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, forces states to recognize marriages across state lines and guarantees same-sex couples have the same federal rights and benefits as any married couples.
“The road to this moment has been long, but those who believe in equality and justice, you never gave up,” Biden said.
Congress moved to enshrine the right to marry for same-sex couples in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade this past summer, when Justice Clarence Thomas hinted that Obergefell v. Hodges and two other cases related to gay rights might go under their review.
In 1996, Biden voted for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the anti-LGBTQ+ legislation which the Respect for Marriage Act oveturns. Even as a vice presidential candidate in 2008, Biden did not support changing the legal definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. However, he changed his tune in 2012, endorsing gay marriage even before President Obama.
Signing a bill that was already enacted years ago. Nice distraction from the democrats destructive policies. Maybe next month they can do it again and Cindy Lauper can sing a song about women getting the right to vote.
This was the anti-religion act, not respect for marriage. Marriage rites were not in any jeopardy. There had been exceptions for religious institutions with regard to gay marriage, but with this that right has been taken away, so no more religious freedom in America!
This whole thing was based on a lie and was a PR ploy.
Yep.
Our country and our community has been, and continues to be, pushed around by the religious right, so no sympathy here.
That’s not the point. A Constitutionally protected right is being taken away. If they can do it to the freedom of religion they can take away other Constitutional rights, one of which just may be one you particularly value.
Your logic is flawed regarding freedom of religion and how it impacts people. Also, religious organizations are still protected from having to provide services to same sex couples under the new Respect for Marriage law so please do your homework. Meanwhile, states across the country have taken away access to reproductive health services on religious grounds. Not just abortion either, but access to contraceptives. If these same states decided that they didn’t support same sex marriage, the same legal principles used to dismiss Roe v. Wade could have supported deeming those marriages illegal in their state all on religious grounds.… Read more »
Nope! What I said is accurate. At the moment religious institutions still do not have to give up their principles, but now they can be forced to based on the Respect for Marriage Act. This was the first big step. If the voters of a state decide they don’t want to provide abortion, that’s their democratic right. I know non-religious people, even atheists, who do not support abortion. The recent Supreme Court decision was nothing more than saying that the issue of abortion is not one to have ever been a federal one, but is instead one for the individual… Read more »
Citizens do not have equal rights when it comes to reproductive issues. A woman in Alabama does not have the same rights to control her own body that a woman in California has. Not surprisingly, red states that restrict women’s rights also rank worst in infant mortality, maternal mortality, and teen pregnancy.