With bipartisan support, the US senate easily passed the Respect for Marriage Act 61 to 36. It enshrines legal protection for same sex and interracial marriage.
Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz voted no, saying it infringed on religious liberty and opened the way for legal action against institutions that, on religious grounds, oppose same sex marriage.
Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz voted no, saying it infringed on religious liberty and opened the way for legal action against institutions that, on religious grounds, oppose same-sex marriage.
Mark Phariss and his husband Vic Holmes were among the two plaintiffs in the Texas Marriage Equality case filed with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2013. Phariss says this legislation was necessary due to the six to three conservative makeup of the Supreme Court. He says this new law came about in case the high court overturns 2015's Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage the law of the land.
"The reason why there was the fear is that the Supreme Court just overturned Roe V Wade, a decision that had been in place much longer than Obergefell. Then you have Clarence Thomas, a justice on the Supreme Court, who in a concurring opinion urged the Supreme Court ultimately to overturn Obergefell and some other decisions."
Phariss said other politicians urged the same, including Texas Senators Cornyn and Cruz.
"The good news is congress is going to codify marriage equality. The sad thing is they actually needed to do that. It's really unbelievable that in 2022 you would have certain justices who would take the position that the Equal Protection Clause, that prohibits states from denying equal protection to any person, that they would think that somehow doesn't cover gay people."
The new measure repeals the Defense of Marriage Act that prohibited the federal government from recognizing same sex marriages. It requires the federal government to recognize same sex marriages and it requires states to recognize out of state marriages. It does not require a state to grant a same sex marriage license.
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