US Congress passed another bill to protect same-sex marriage | World news
The US Congress on Wednesday passed landmark legislation to protect same-sex marriage under federal law, and President Joe Biden has vowed to sign it quickly.
The vote in the House of Representatives saw 39 Republicans join the majority of the united Democratic Party in a rare show of divisiveness, causing loud cheers on the floor less than 10 days after the Senate passed the same bill.
“Today this chamber proudly stands with the forces of freedom,” outgoing Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said shortly before the vote.
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The conservative-led Supreme Court in June has long blocked abortion rights, prompting lawmakers of both parties to rush to block the court from removing same-sex marriage rights, as few in fear that you can do it.
The House, which has approved similar legislation in the past, needs a vote Thursday to reconcile minor differences with the Senate version.
Biden has called marriage equality one of his legislative priorities and has said he will “quickly and proudly” sign the bill into law.
Democrats and others welcomed the story.
“I began my career fighting for LGBTQ communities,” Pelosi tweeted Thursday, “and now, one of the last bills I will sign as Speaker will ensure that the federal government no longer stands in the way of marrying someone who love.”
The new law, known as the Respect for Marriage Act, does not require states to legalize same-sex marriage but does require them to recognize marriage as long as it is valid in the state where it takes place.
– ‘The wrong way to go’ –
It repealed a previous law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and it also protected interracial couples by requiring states to recognize legal marriages without regard to “sex, race, ethnicity or national origin.”
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Public acceptance of same-sex marriage has grown significantly in recent decades, with polls showing the majority of Americans support it.
But some conservatives and the religious right disagree.
“I think this is the wrong way to go,” conservative Republican Jim Jordan said just before the election.
House Democrats have worked with urgency to pass the bill while still controlling Congress. Republicans won a slim majority in the chamber in midterm elections in November and will take control there in January, while Democrats retain narrow control of the Senate.
The Supreme Court in a 2015 decision legalized same-sex marriages. Thousands of couples have married since then.
