PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The U.S. Senate passed landmark bipartisan legislation Tuesday that would codify protections for same-sex and interracial marriages in federal law. The bill now moves to the House and, Democrats hope, on to President Joe Biden’s desk.
But advocates in Philadelphia say there’s still work to be done to fully protect the rights of the LGBTQ community.
Twelve Republicans joined Democrats in the Senate to support the bill, while three senators, including Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey, did not vote.
The Respect For Marriage Act would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. So, states would be required to recognize same-sex marriage and any marriage that legally happened in other states.
Sultan Shakir, president and executive officer of the Mazzoni Center, an LGBTQ health and wellness resource, says that’s a big deal.
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“It’s notable that our country is saying that we care about same-sex couples in the LGBTQ community,” Shakir said.
But he says he is “looking at this as one step in a number of steps we need to take to make sure that the LGBTQ community has … full access to the rights of American citizens.”
This was a major step in pushing the legislation through, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade. Democrats were concerned that was a sign that future court decisions could, theoretically, strip away the legality of same-sex and interracial marriages.
“You know, I think the question still remains to be seen is marriage equality on the chopping block in 2023 as a part of the larger Republican agenda,” said state Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia, on Wednesday.
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The urgency behind the bill is a direct response to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas stating his interest in exploring the undoing of same-sex marriage equality in the opinion he wrote in the Roe decision, says Sims, the first openly gay person elected to the General Assembly.
Sims says federal laws are not enough, and states also need to enact laws protecting marriage equality for LGBTQ people. “Pennsylvania, for example, has not.”
He says if this bill were to fail in the House, the Supreme Court could do to marriage equality what it did to Roe v. Wade in June. And if that were to happen, many legislatures could try to attack marriage equality, as they have done to abortion rights, at the state level, he said.
“Which means that right now we need to be re-doubling our efforts to ensure full equality, full civil rights protections for all people in every state in the United States who are LGBTQ plus,” Sims said.