House Passes Bill to Protect Same-Sex Marriage Rights - The New York Times

Politics|Bill to Protect Same-Sex Marriage Rights Clears Congress

WASHINGTON — The House connected Thursday gave last support to authorities to mandate national designation for same-sex marriages, with a bipartisan conjugation of lawmakers voting successful favour of the measurement successful the waning days of the Democratic-led Congress.

With a ballot of 258-169, the landmark authorities cleared Congress, sending it to President Biden to beryllium signed into instrumentality and capping an improbable way for a measurement that lone months agone appeared to person small accidental astatine enactment.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the tally triumphantly, banging the gavel repeatedly arsenic if to applaud arsenic members of the House cheered.

It was the 2nd clip successful 5 months that the House had taken up the Respect for Marriage Act. Last summer, 47 House Republicans joined Democrats successful enactment of the legislation, a level of G.O.P. enthusiasm for same-sex matrimony rights that amazed and delighted its supporters. That acceptable disconnected an intensive effort among a bipartisan radical of proponents successful the Senate — boosted softly by a conjugation of influential Republican donors and operatives, immoderate of them gay — to find the 10 Republican votes indispensable successful that enclosure to determination it forward.

In the Senate, the authorities was revised to code concerns among immoderate Republicans that it would punish oregon restrict the religious state of institutions that garbage to admit same-sex marriages. That mentation passed past month, forcing it backmost to the House for a 2nd ballot to o.k. the changes.

But the revisions appeared to person failed to physique enactment for the measure among Republicans successful the House; connected Thursday, less Republicans supported it than successful July.

The propulsion to walk the authorities began aft Justice Clarence Thomas suggested successful his opinion successful the June ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, which had established a law close to abortion, that the tribunal besides “should reconsider” precedents enshrining matrimony equality and entree to contraception.

But what began arsenic a messaging workout for Democrats anxious to item societal issues during the midterm elections turned into a superior legislative propulsion aft a overmuch higher fig of House Republicans than anyone had expected voted successful favour of the measure. After an intensive lobbying effort that culminated aft the elections, the Senate passed the authorities with the enactment of 12 Republicans.

“Today, we volition ballot for equality and against favoritism by yet overturning the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act and guaranteeing important protections for same-sex and interracial marriages,” Representative David Cicilline, Democrat of Rhode Island, said connected Thursday successful the moments earlier it passed.

The information that the measure managed to pull decisive, bipartisan majorities successful some the Senate and the House proves a significant displacement successful American authorities and culture connected an contented that was erstwhile considered politically divisive. Over the past decade, same-sex matrimony has go wide accepted by members of some parties, and polls amusement that much than 70 percent of voters enactment same-sex marriage.

Still, the bulk of Republicans remained opposed. During statement connected Thursday, they argued that the measurement was a effect to a nonexistent menace to same-sex matrimony rights, and condemned the measure arsenic immoral.

Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the apical Republican connected the Judiciary Committee, said Democrats had “conjured up” an “unfounded fear” that the Supreme Court was connected the brink of nullifying same-sex matrimony rights and different precedents, and said the measurement inactive lacked capable protections for organizations that bash not see specified unions valid.

“It is dangerous,” Mr. Jordan said of the legislation, “and takes the state successful the incorrect direction.”

Representative Bob Good, Republican of Virginia, derided the measurement arsenic the “disrespect for matrimony act.”

“This measure surely disrespects God’s explanation of marriage,” Mr. Good said, “and his explanation is the lone 1 that truly matters.”

The authorities repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines matrimony arsenic betwixt a antheral and a pistillate and allows states to garbage to grant same-sex marriages performed successful different states. It prohibits states from denying the validity of an out-of-state matrimony based connected sex, contention oregon ethnicity.

But successful a information that Republican backers insisted upon, it would warrant that spiritual organizations would not beryllium required to supply immoderate goods oregon services for the solemnisation of immoderate marriage, and could not suffer tax-exempt presumption oregon different benefits for refusing to admit same-sex unions.