US Senate invoice to guard same-sex marriage clears preliminary hurdle

The invoice should bounce via a number of extra Senate procedural hoops earlier than returning to the House for last approval after which to the president for his signature.

Washington DC,UPDATED: Nov 17, 2022 08:26 IST

A Gay Pride flag flies under the U.S. flag throughout a celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling of legalizing homosexual marriage nationwide, at a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan (Photo: Reuters)

By Reuters:

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to advance a invoice defending federal recognition of same-sex marriage, prompted by issues {that a} extra conservative Supreme Court might reverse a 2015 choice that made it authorized nationwide.

The invoice garnered the 60 votes required to restrict debate earlier than a last vote on its passage. It would function a authorized backstop in opposition to any future Supreme Court motion by requiring the federal authorities to acknowledge any marriage that was authorized within the state it was carried out.

It wouldn’t block states from banning same-sex or interracial marriages if the Supreme Court permits them to take action.

All 50 Democrats and 12 Republican senators voted to advance the invoice within the 100-member Senate. The House of Representatives handed an analogous invoice in July, with the assist of 47 Republicans and all the chamber’s Democrats.

The invoice should bounce via a number of extra Senate procedural hoops earlier than returning to the House for last approval after which to the president for his signature.

When the Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortion in June, Justice Clarence Thomas brought on alarm by writing in his concurring opinion that the court docket ought to take into account overturning different precedents defending particular person freedoms together with the 2015 ruling legalizing homosexual marriage.

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There are roughly 568,000 married same-sex {couples} within the United States, in line with the U.S. Census Bureau.

“I’ve heard from constituents back home who are concerned and worried about the suggestion that their right to marry who they love will be taken away,” Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, the primary brazenly homosexual particular person elected to the Senate and a lead negotiator on the invoice, stated at a Tuesday information convention.

Speaking earlier than Wednesday’s vote, Republican Senator Thom Tillis, one other key negotiator, referred to as the invoice “a good compromise… based on mutual respect for our fellow Americans.”

President Joe Biden applauded the vote, saying that it “sent a strong message that Republicans and Democrats can work together to secure the fundamental right of Americans to marry the person they love.”

Although same-sex marriage has gone from a political sizzling potato to a well-established norm up to now decade, the invoice’s negotiators needed to thread a needle between defending a proper most Americans now see as a given, and assuaging issues from Republican senators about non secular liberties.

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In a mark of how far the nation has moved on the problem, the Mormon church – as soon as a virulent opponent of legalizing same-sex marriage – got here out in assist of the invoice. Republican Senator Mitt Romney, a Mormon, voted in favor on Wednesday.

The laws is the results of months of negotiation by Baldwin and Tillis, in addition to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Senators Susan Collins and Rob Portman.

Published On:

Nov 17, 2022