US Senate passes bill defending same-sex marriage at the federal level

O Senate From United States approved this Tuesday, 29, with 61 votes in favor and 36 against, a legislative initiative to protect same-sex marriage at the federal level, which will now return to House of Representatives for your final vote. The legislation intends for the federal government to recognize marriage between two people of the same sex if it is legal in the state where they were married. The same principle applies to interracial marriages in the country. The text also recognizes religious freedom, preventing religious institutions such as churches from being forced to celebrate these marriages and losing benefits or tax exemptions for not doing so. In addition, it repeals the Law for the Defense of Marriage passed in 1996, which defines marriage only as a heterosexual union between a man and a woman. “America’s history has been one of a difficult but relentless march toward greater equality,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday, who warned that “the rights of all couples married couples will never really be safe without proper protections under federal law.”

The House of Representatives, still with a progressive majority, gave its approval to the project in July with 267 votes in favor and 157 against. In the Senate, the narrow Democratic majority needed the support of at least ten Republicans to move forward. Once approved, the text must return to the House, which must give its green light to the new version that came out of the Senate, before going to the president’s desk. Joe Biden for your signature. Same-sex marriage has been legal in the United States since June 2015, when the Supreme Court declared laws prohibiting it in some states unconstitutional. Mobilization in defense of these unions gained momentum recently after the Supreme Court, now controlled by a conservative majority, overturned the decision “Roe v. Wade,” which for nearly half a century protected access to abortion in the country. Since then, a large number of activists and progressive politicians have alerted to the possibility of the Justice doing the same with other rights, such as same-sex marriage, giving back to the States the power to allow it or not. While the bill is not intended to force all states to legalize gay marriage, it would require them to recognize marriages performed in another state where they are legal.

*With information from EFE