The US House Of Representatives Approved The Similar Marriage Protection Act
JAKARTA - The US House on Thursday approved a final congressional approval for a law granting federal recognition of same-sex marriage, an act born out of concern the Supreme Court could cancel its support for legal recognition of such relations.
In the vote, as many as 258 members of the US House of Representatives voted in favor of 169 opposed. It is known that all members of the House of Representatives from the Democratic Party and 39 from the Republican Party expressed their support.
In his speech at the House of Representatives ahead of the vote, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the 'hate movement' behind attacks on LGBT rights in the United States.
The law "will help prevent right-wing extremists from disrupting the lives of loving couples, traumatizing children across the country and turning back time for gifts hard earned," Pelosi said.
The move now goes to the desk of Democratic President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The Law on Honor of Marriage (The Respect for Marriage Act), won Senate approval last month.
When the Senate passed it with a vote of 61-36, 12 Republicans joined 49 Democrats to support it. Most Republican Senates oppose it.
It brings me great personal pride that the Respect for Marriage Act is one of the final bills to bear my signature as Speaker.This legislation – which now heads to @POTUS’ desk – expresses a value that our nation holds dear: liberty, equality and dignity for all. pic.twitter.com/ImBeY27dAg
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) December 8, 2022
The law won support from LGBT supporters as well as a number of religious organizations and entities, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although many conservative Americans still oppose same-sex marriage as against the Bible holy book.
It was written narrowly to act as a limited detention for the 2015 Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, known asbulgefell v. Hodges.
The law will allow the federal government and states to recognize same-sex and inter-species marriage, as long as it is legal in the state where the marriage is carried out. It makes concessions for religious groups and institutions that do not support such marriages.
This action will revoke the 1996 US law called the Marriage Defense Act, which among other things rejects federal allowances for same-sex couples. It prohibits countries from rejecting the validity of marriage outside the country on the basis of gender, race or ethnicity. The Supreme Court in 1967 declared the prohibition of inter-specific marriage.
But the law will not prohibit the state from blocking same-sex or between races, if the Supreme Court allows it.
It is known that around 568,000 married same-sex couples live in the United States, according to the US Census Bureau.