House passes bill to protect same-sex marriage rights

Washington, Dec 8 (Prensa Latina) The House voted to pass legislation on Thursday to protect same-sex and interracial marriage, the last step before the measure goes to President Joe Biden for his signature and becomes law.

December 8, 2022
17:14

The House vote was 258 to 169 with 39 Republicans joining the Democrats voting in favor. Loud applause broke out in the chamber as the vote was gaveled to a close.

According to CNN, while the bill would not set a national requirement that all states must legalize same-sex marriage, it would require individual states to recognize another state´s legal marriage.

The bill, called the Respect for Marriage Act, passed the Senate with a vote of 61 to 36 last week. The bill was supported by all members of the Senate Democratic caucus and 12 Republicans.

President Biden said on several occasions that he would “promptly and proudly sign the bill into law”.

This legislation unites Americans, said Senator Tammy Baldwin, the only openly lesbian senator in the country.

“With the Respect for Marriage Act, we can alleviate the fear of millions of same-sex and interracial couples their freedoms and rights could be stripped away,” she said.

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