The House passed on Thursday a landmark marriage equality bill known as the 'Respect for Marriage Act' despite a reversal of many Republican lawmakers on their support of the proposal.
The bill will require the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages that are performed in states where such marriages are legal. However, the act does not go as far as some Democratic lawmakers wanted.
Marriage Equality Bill
Last week, the Senate passed the marriage equality bill with a result of 61-36, and this week, it won approval in the House with a final tally of 258-169. Now, the legislation heads to the White House for President Joe Biden's signature to implement it as law.
The situation comes as Republican lawmakers in both chambers warned that the bill does not do enough to protect religious liberty, but 39 House Republicans still voted for the bill. Supporters of the legislation praised it as being a safety net in the event that the Supreme Court reverses a ruling that says the Constitution guarantees the right of same-sex couples to get married, as per Fox News.
On Thursday, while on the House floor, outgoing speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the legislation is the latest effort of House Democrats to fight to win full equality for LGBTQ Americans. She added that it is part of an effort to forge a more perfect union that every child deserves.
On the other hand, House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler said that the American government is on the cusp of a great bipartisan moral victory. He argued that the bill was working to defend the fundamental right of all Americans.
According to the Washington Post, initially, the House passed an older version of the bill in July, but the Senate delayed its vote on that one until after the midterm elections. Also, late last month, the Senate passed the bill with a bipartisan amendment that alleviated concerns among the GOP about religious liberty.
Republican Opposition
In a statement, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay person elected to the Senate, said that they can put to rest the worries of millions of loving couples who feared that the Supreme Court would someday take away their rights and freedoms to love.
The lawmaker added that they were giving these loving couples the certainty that their marriages are legally binding and that they will continue to have the same rights, responsibilities, and benefits as every other married couple.
During deliberation of the bill, GOP Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri broke down crying on the House floor on Thursday. She begged her Republican colleagues to vote no on the marriage equality bill, calling it "misguided" and "dangerous."
Hartzler spent the first two minutes of her talk criticizing the marriage equality bill, claiming that its sole purpose was to hand the federal government a "legal bludgeoning tool" that it could use to drive people of faith out of the public square and silence any who dissented.
The Republican lawmaker made her remarks while holding back tears, also called the bill unnecessary. She also said that Obergefell was not in danger, referencing the Obergefell v. Hodges case that requires all states to recognize same-sex marriages across the United States, Business Insider reported.
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