I see many confused as to why Republican Senators, with anti-lgbtqia records, are voting for the Respect for Marriage Act. What’s more is the Mormon Church supported it.
I was confused too, so let’s clear it up.
The most important thing this bill does is repeal title 28 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. And it adds teeth to this by allowing the Attorney General to bring civil action against states that fail to do so. The bill even allows private action.
The bill also redefines marriage in federal law placing all traditional marriage language with neutral language.
Now this all sounds great, so why the support from these Republicans and the Mormon Church?
Well the bill also enforces the religious right to refuse to recognize or administer same sex marriages, and states are still free to restrict marriage as well.
So while these groups are far from finding their new found wokeness, the bill is still a huge statutory protection against any future Supreme Court ruling.
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