The U.S. House of Representatives has given final congressional approval to legislation that provides federal recognition of same-sex marriages, a measure born out of concern that the Supreme Court could reverse its support for legal recognition of such relationships.
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| Joe Biden. President of the United States of America (USA). Photo: Patrick Semansky / AP via nbcnews.com |
The House vote was 258-169, with all of the chamber’s Democrats and 39 Republicans voting in favour – though 169 of the chamber’s Republicans voted against it and one voted “present.”
The measure now goes to Democratic President Joe Biden’s desk for signature into law.
The Respect for Marriage Act, as it is called, won Senate approval last month.
The legislation won the support of LGBT advocates as well as a number of religious organizations and entities including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though many American religious conservatives still oppose gay marriage as counter to biblical scripture.
It is narrowly written to act as a limited backstop for the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, known as Obergefell v. Hodges.
It would allow the federal government and states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages as long as they were legal in the states where they were performed.
It makes concessions for religious groups and institutions that do not support such marriages.
The measure would repeal a 1996 U.S. law called the Defense of Marriage Act, which among other things denied federal benefits to same-sex couples.
It bars states from rejecting the validity of out-of-state marriages on the basis of sex, race or ethnicity.
In a speech on the House floor ahead of the vote, Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the “hateful movement” behind attacks on LGBT rights in the United States.
The legislation “will help prevent right-wing extremists from upending the lives of loving couples, traumatising kids across the country and turning back the clock on hard-won prizes,” Pelosi said.
Republican Representative Jim Jordan said the bill was “dangerous and takes the country in the wrong direction.” Reuters via NAN
