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House votes to codify same-sex marriage

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Photo by Jose Luis Magana / AP
Photo by Jose Luis Magana / AP

Fearing the Supreme Court may revisit the 2015 decision over Obergefell v. Hodges, the House of Representatives voted to codify same-sex marriage into federal law Tuesday, July 19. The decision comes in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the outrage and protests that followed.

Called the "Respect for Marriage Act," support for the bill came from both sides of the aisle, but 157 GOP representatives voted against upholding marriage equality. All votes against the Respect for Marriage Act came from the Republican party.

Democrats proposed the bill to the House on Monday, July 18, amid right-wing criticism that they were pushing the bill through too quickly, having only received it an hour before the House Rules Committee's hearing. Republican members of the committee argued that the bill needed to go through question and debate in the Judiciary Committee.

The next step for the Respect for Marriage Act is to go through the Senate. 60 votes are needed to pass the bill. Currently, the Senate consists of 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and two Independents.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas made headlines recently when he stated his opinion that the Supreme Court made a mistake with Obergefell. Meanwhile, "moderate Democratic" senators Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) and Joe Manchin (W.Va) have voted against much of their own party's agenda, the most recent example being Manchin's refusal to back the current climate bill in favor of the all-American traditions of climate change denial and corporate avarice.

At press time, the Respect for Marriage Act has not been introduced to the Senate, nor has any concurrent legislation.