US House passes bill to protect same-sex marriage

The US House overwhelmingly approved legislation Tuesday to protect samesex and interracial marriages amid concerns that the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v Wade abortion access could jeopardise other rights criticised by many conservative AmericansIn a robust but lopsided debate Democrats argued intensely and often personally in favour of enshrining marriage equality in federal law while Republicans steered clear of openly rejecting gay marriage Instead leading Republicans portrayed the bill as unnecessary amid other issues facing the nationTuesdays electionyear roll call 267157 was partly political strategy forcing all House members Republicans and Democrats to go on the record with their views It also reflected the legislative branch pushing back against an aggressive court that has sparked fears it may revisit apparently settled US lawsWary of political fallout GOP leaders did not press their lawmakers to hold the party line against the bill aides said In all 47 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for passageFor me this is personal said Rep Mondaire Jones DNY who said he was among the openly gay members of the HouseImagine telling the next generation of Americans my generation we no longer have the right to marry he said Congress cant allow that to happenWhile the Respect for Marriage Act easily passed the House with a Democratic majority it is likely to stall in the evenly split Senate where most Republicans would probably join a filibuster to block itIts one of several bills including those enshrining abortion access that Democrats are proposing to confront the courts conservative majorityThe Biden administration issued a statement of support for the marriage billPolling shows a majority of Americans favour preserving rights to marry whom one wishes regardless of the persons sex gender race or ethnicity a longbuilding shift in modern mores toward inclusionA Gallup poll in June showed broad and increasing support for samesex marriage with 7037 of US adults saying they think such unions should be recognised by law as valid The poll showed majority support among both Democrats 8337 and Republicans 5537Approval of interracial marriage in the US hit a sixdecade high at 9437 in September according to GallupAhead of voting a number of lawmakers joined protesters demonstrating against the abortion ruling outside the Supreme Court which sits across from the Capitol and remains fenced off for security during tumultuous political times The US Capitol Police said among those arrested Tuesday were 16 members of CongressThe extremist rightwing majority on the Supreme Court has put our country down a perilous path said Rep Mary Gay Scanlon DPa in a floor speech setting Tuesdays process in motionIts time for our colleagues across the aisle to stand up and be counted Will they vote to protect these fundamental freedoms Or will they vote to let states take those freedoms awayBut Republicans insisted Tuesday that the court was only focused on abortion access in June when it struck down the nearly 50yearold Roe v Wade ruling and they argued that samesex marriage and other rights were not threatenedWe are here for a political charade we are here for political messaging said Rep Jim Jordan of Ohio the top Republican on the Judiciary CommitteeAs several Democrats spoke of inequalities they said that they or their loved ones had faced in samesex marriages the Republicans talked about rising gas prices inflation and crime including recent threats to justices in connection with the abortion rulingEven as it passed the House with Republican votes the outcome in the Senate is hardly favourableIm probably not inclined to support it said Sen Josh Hawley RMo The predicate of this is just wrong I dont think the Supreme Court is going to overturn any of that stuffFor Republicans in Congress the Trumpera confirmation of conservative justices to the Supreme Court fulfilled a longterm GOP goal of revisiting many social environmental and regulatory issues the party has been unable to tackle on its own by passing bills that could be signed into lawBut in a notable silence Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell declined to express his view on the bill leaving an open question over how strongly his party would fight it if it even comes up for a vote in the upper chamberI dont see anything behind this right now other than you know election year politics said the GOP whip Sen John Thune of South DakotaThe Respect for Marriage Act would repeal a law from the Clinton era that defines marriage as a heterogeneous relationship between a man and a woman It would also provide legal protections for interracial marriages by prohibiting any state from denying outofstate marriage licenses and benefits on the basis of sex race ethnicity or national originThe 1996 law the Defense of Marriage Act had basically been sidelined by Obamaera court rulings including Obergefell v Hodges which established the rights of samesex couples to marry nationwide a landmark case for gay rightsBut last month writing for the majority in overturning Roe v Wade Justice Samuel Alito argued for a more narrow interpretation of the rights guaranteed to Americans noting that the right to an abortion was not spelled out in the ConstitutionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever