Same-sex marriage bill passes U.S. Senate
The U.S. Senate has passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage over objections from Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, who argued the bill did not offer adequate religious protections.
Twelve other Republicans joined every Democrat in the Senate in advancing the Respect for Marriage Act on Tuesday evening, all but assuring that same-sex and interracial unions will be protected by federal law, even if the Supreme Court were to overturn rulings establishing those rights. The bill now heads back to the Democratic-controlled House, where it is expected to easily pass, and President Joe Biden has said he will sign it into law.
“For millions and millions of Americans, today is a very good day — an important day, a day that has been a long time coming,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Advocates say the legislation is especially important for LGBTQ Texans, who feel they have been under attack by a state Republican party that wrote opposition to them into its official platform and is planning to further push against LGBTQ rights in the upcoming legislative session.
The bill would require states like Texas, where laws banning same-sex marriage and sodomy remain on the books, to recognize legal marriage licenses issued in states where it is legal. State agencies and local governments would have to recognize the marriages as well.
For married same-sex couples in Texas, the legislation would protect family health care plans, wills and more if the high court were to revisit its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, as Justice Clarence Thomas has suggested it should.
Republican senators who supported the bill said it included important religious protections, such as language making clear that nonprofit religious organizations would not be required to provide “any services, facilities, or goods for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage.”
The bill has been endorsed by several religious groups, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.
“For the sake of our nation today and its survival, we do well by taking this step — not embracing or validating each other’s devoutly held views, but by the simple act of tolerating them,” said U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican who voted for the bill despite saying she personally believes marriage is between one man and one woman.
But Texas Republicans argued the protections in the bill were “toothless.” They said the legislation would “trample” religious liberty to protect a right they do not believe is under threat and argued that it would open the door for individuals to sue religious organizations that do not recognize same-sex unions, or for the Internal Revenue Service to challenge their tax-exempt status.
“While this bill does not move the needle on samesex marriage, this legislation will raise serious issues for religious liberty,” Cornyn said.
Cruz said in a recent episode of his podcast that the bill “does considerable harm.”
“What this fight really is about — it is about the Biden administration being able to persecute people of faith, being able to persecute churches, Kthrough-12 schools, universities and charities,” Cruz said on the podcast in which he sought to shame the Republican senators supporting the bill, saying they “can’t find a backbone.”
All but one Texas Republican in the House, U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio, opposed an earlier version of the bill when it passed the chamber in July.
Polling indicates Texas Republicans’ views on same-sex marriage have remained largely unchanged since the Supreme Court ruling that legalized it. In August, a survey by the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Politics Project found that 50 percent of Republicans were opposed to same-sex marriage. That was almost unchanged since the same question was asked in 2017.
The state party adopted a platform this summer declaring “homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle choice.”
“We believe there should be no granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin, and we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values,” the platform states.
Republican state lawmakers, meanwhile, already have filed more than 10 bills for the legislative session that begins next month that would primarily affect LGBTQ Texans. They include measures targeting gender-affirming care for transgender teens and ongoing efforts to limit classroom discussion of human sexuality — both of which will be priorities in the state Senate next year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said.