First modification:
The US Congress approved this Thursday, December 8, a law that protects marriage between people of the same sex, recognizing it at the federal level if it was enacted in a state where it is legal. The bill was written in reaction to the recent Supreme Court decision to strike down the Roe v. Wade, who protected the right to abortion.
The right to gay marriage will be more protected in the United States. After the vote in the Senate last week (61 positive votes and 36 negative) of the “law of respect for marriage”, the House of Representatives approved it this Thursday by a large majority (258 to 169 votes). It was voted for by all Democrats and 39 Republicans. US President Joe Biden said he will sign it into law without delay.
“Congress has taken a decisive step today to guarantee millions of Americans the right to marry whomever they love,” Biden said in a statement, for whom its approval “will give peace of mind to millions of LGBTQI+ and interracial couples who are now guaranteed rights and protections to which they are entitled.
Homosexual unions have been upheld by the US Supreme Court since 2015, when it declared the laws that prohibited them unconstitutional in some states. Indeed, since then, same-sex marriage has been legal in all states of the country.
However, after the Supreme Court’s decision – now controlled by a conservative majority – in June to overturn Roe VS Wade and leave the responsibility of regulating abortion rights to the states, progressives considered it important to protect gay marriage to federal level.
Following this decision, Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas had expressed his desire to see other precedents reviewed, including the 2015 one on gay marriage.
a partial protection
The legislation does not establish gay marriage as a federal right, but it does encourage the government to recognize marriage between two people of the same sex if it is legal in the state where they were married.
It also protects interracial weddings and prohibits registrars, regardless of the state in which they work, from discriminating against couples “on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity or origin.”
In addition, the legislation repeals the 1996 Defense of Marriage law, which only recognized the union between a man and a woman.
If the Supreme Court wanted to overturn its 2015 decision, states could ban same-sex marriage at the state level, but they would have to recognize these marriages that were performed in states where it is legal.
Homosexual marriage supported by the majority of the population
A large majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, even in Republican ranks.
However, many religious movements are opposed to it. The text recognizes religious freedom since religious institutions such as churches may not be required to celebrate these weddings or lose benefits or tax exemptions for not doing so.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will step down in January to Hakeem Jeffries, welcomed “one of the last pieces of legislation” she will sign.
On the House floor before the vote, Pelosi paid tribute to Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States and who was assassinated in 1978.
“He once told his supporters, ‘I’ve tasted freedom, I won’t go back,'” Nancy Pelosi said, adding, “Today, the House stands proud with the forces of liberty, against turning back the clock.” .
Rights of transgender people in danger
The civil rights advocacy group ACLU last week hailed a “historic breakthrough” for the rights of LGBTQI+ families. However, he recalled that laws contrary to the rights of transsexual people are increasing in several states of the country.
“While we applaud the historic vote on this measure, members of Congress must also fight as if the lives of transgender people depend on their efforts, because they do,” the organization said in a statement.
According to the ACLU, more than 100 bills attacking transgender people have been introduced in state legislatures since 2020. In 2021, 31 states introduced legislation that would bar transgender student athletes from participating in school sports.
With EFE and AFP
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