Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Same-Sex Marriage Rights Bill Clears a Crucial Senate Hurdle. (NY Times)

Proud of the Senate vote on November 16, 222.  I was honored to be chosen to represent Duane David Rinde, the courageous plannfiff, and to have litigated, won and settled first Gay domestic partnership employee benefits case in 1989-1990, and then to the been invited to write first Gay marriage article for an America Bar Association publication in 1991. From The New York Times:


Same-Sex Marriage Rights Bill Clears a Crucial Senate Hurdle

Democrats made the same-sex marriage bill one of their first major agenda items in the postelection session, moving quickly to enact it while their party still controls both chambers.

Two women in white dresses and carrying bouquets of white flowers stand with their arms around each other next to a pair of men in blue suits who are embracing in front of New York city hall.
Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in his opinion in the ruling that overturned the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision that the court also “should reconsider” precedents such as the one that enshrined marriage equality in 2015. Credit...Yana Paskova/Getty Images
Two women in white dresses and carrying bouquets of white flowers stand with their arms around each other next to a pair of men in blue suits who are embracing in front of New York city hall.

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday took a crucial step toward passing landmark legislation to provide federal protections for same-sex marriages, as 12 Republicans joined Democrats to advance the Respect for Marriage Act, putting it on track to become law in the twilight of the Democratic-held Congress.

The 62-to-37 vote, which came only days after the midterm elections in which Democrats retained control of the Senate but lost the House to Republicans, was a rare and notable last gasp of bipartisanship by a lame duck Congress as lawmakers looked toward an era of political gridlock.

It also signaled a remarkable shift in American politics and culture, demonstrating how same-sex marriage, once a divisive issue, has been so widely accepted that a law to protect the rights of same-sex couples across the country could gain decisive, bipartisan majorities in both the Senate and the House. Last summer, 47 House Republicans joined Democrats to pass a version of the bill.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said that passage of the legislation, now expected after Thanksgiving, would be “one of the true highlights of the year for this body” and “one of the more significant accomplishments of this Senate to date.”


Speaking on the Senate floor, Mr. Schumer noted that his daughter and her wife were expecting a baby in the spring and that he wanted “them, and everyone in a loving relationship, to live without the fear that their rights could one day be stripped away.”

The measure still must win passage in the Senate, and then return to the House, which must clear it and send it to President Biden for his signature. But the legislation has overcome the biggest obstacle to its enactment: the 60-vote threshold in the 50-50 Senate.

Even as the test vote reflected bipartisan support for the measure, the vast majority of Republicans, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, voted against it. Thirty-seven Senate Republicans voted no, illustrating that, while polling has found that more than 70 percent of Americans — including a majority of Republicans — support same-sex marriage, the issue remains politically untouchable for many G.O.P. lawmakers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

All this social conservative stuff all of a sudden should be seen as a religious war. Funny thing is that the people who have enabled this are not religious. It's a far right stunt and every bit of it is meant to gain power and wealth for the rich courtesy of the hog party.