The US Senate on November 29 passed the Respect for Marriage Act 61-36, culminating a bipartisan push in the upper chamber to solidify protections for LGBTQ and interracial married couples across the United States.
The Respect for Marriage Act would protect same-sex marriages and interracial marriages by requiring legally performed marriages to be recognized across the nation, but states would not be required to perform marriages if the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling is ever overturned. The bill also formally repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, the now-defunct Clinton-era law that limited the federal government’s recognition of marriage to one man and one woman.
