The U.S. Senate on Wednesday advanced a
bill that seeks to protect same-sex marriage after the Supreme
Court's ruling overturning federal abortion rights.
Twelve Republican Senators joined all
50 Democrats in voting for cloture on the Respect for Marriage Act.
The legislation would codify the
Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell that struck down
laws and constitutional amendments that defined marriage as a
heterosexual union, ushering in nationwide marriage equality. The
Respect for Marriage Act would strengthen protections on a federal
level and require states to recognize all legal out-of-state
marriages.
A full vote in the Senate could take
place as early as Thursday.
In a statement, President Joe Biden
pledged to “promptly sign [the bill] into law.”
“The Respect for Marriage Act will
ensure that LGBTQI+ couples and interracial couples are respected and
protected equally under federal law, and provide more certainty to
these families since the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs,”
Biden said.
LGBTQ rights advocates cheered
Wednesday's vote.
“Today’s strong bipartisan vote of
62-37 for cloture is an incredible victory that cannot be taken
lightly – this vote was the bill’s biggest procedural roadblock,
and now we steer our focus forward to the Senate’s final vote on
this historic legislation,” Kelley Robinson, incoming president of
the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBTQ rights
advocate, said in a statement.