washington Same-sex marriage and protects you from discrimination, should the Supreme Court decide to strike down that right.
The House of Representatives, with a Democratic majority, ratified it yesterday by 258 votes in favor and 169 against, as the Senate ruled in the same vein on November 29 with 61 affirmative votes and 36 negative votes.
The bill now awaits President Joe Biden’s ratification to enter into force. The law encourages the federal government to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex if it is legal in the state where they were married. The same principle applies to inter-caste marriages.
The text also recognizes religious freedom, to avoid that religious institutions such as churches may be forced to celebrate these weddings and lose benefits or tax exemptions for not doing so.
This last point was part of an amendment introduced through a bipartisan agreement in the Senate, which meant the text now had to return to the House of Representatives for its final vote, after it was passed earlier in July with 267 votes in favor. Only 157 were approved and against.
The Bill also repeals the Defense of Marriage Act passed in 1996, which defines it as a relationship between a man and a woman.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in the United States since June 2015 when the Supreme Court declared laws prohibiting it unconstitutional in some states.
But the mobilization to protect those unions recently gained momentum after the Supreme Court, now controlled by a conservative majority, ruled in June’s Roe v. Wade decision, which protected abortion access in the country for nearly half a century.
Since then, a large number of activists and progressive politicians have warned of the possibility of the court doing the same with other rights, such as same-sex marriage, returning the power to states to determine whether to allow it. . The bill does not establish same-sex marriage as a federal right applicable throughout the country, but in the event that the Supreme Court were to strike down its doctrine, it would prevent states that have the right to discriminate against married same-sex couples. Wasn’t allowed.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, acknowledged this Thursday that this fundamental right is under “real, direct and immediate threat,” and maintained that the approval of rules protecting it was “a glorious triumph of love.” , of liberty and respect for all”. – Efe
