The United States Senate approved on Tuesday (29), with 61 votes in favor and 36 against, a legislative initiative that will allow same-sex marriage at the federal level. The bill will now return to the House of Representatives for its final vote.
The legislation intends for the federal government to recognize marriage between two people of the same sex if it is legal in the state where they were married.
The text also recognizes religious freedom, preventing churches from being forced to celebrate these marriages and losing benefits or tax exemptions for not doing so.
In addition, it repeals the Defense of Marriage Law passed in 1996, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
“America’s history has been one of a difficult but relentless march toward greater equality,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday, who warned that “the rights of all couples Married people will never really be safe without proper protections under federal law.”
The House of Representatives, still with a progressive majority, gave its approval to the project in July with 267 votes in favor and 157 against. In the Senate, the narrow Democratic majority needed the support of at least ten Republicans to move forward.
Once approved, the text must return to the House, which must give its green light to the new version that came out of the Senate, before going to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in the United States since June 2015, when the Supreme Court declared laws banning it in some states unconstitutional.
The mobilization in defense of these unions gained strength recently after the Supreme Court, now controlled by a conservative majority, in June revoked the decision “Roe v. Wade”, which for almost half a century allowed abortion in the country.
Since then, a large number of activists and progressive politicians have alerted to the possibility of the Justice doing the same with other rights, such as same-sex marriage, giving back to the states the power to allow it or not.
While the bill is not intended to force all states to legalize gay marriage, it would require them to recognize marriages performed in another state where they are legal.
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