When the GOP-hijacked Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas (whose wife played an active role in the January 6 insurrection), wrote a concurring opinion that Obergefell, Griswold, and Lawrence (the rulings that protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and marriage equality for the LGBTQ+ community) should be revisited next. It is so scary, but not surprising at all. The GOP has made it crystal clear: Overturning Roe v. Wade is just the tip of the iceberg.
Democrats in Congress acted to introduce and vote on the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that would codify both same-sex and interracial marriage into federal law and would protect it from the same kind of attacks that right-wing Republican politicians and Supreme Court justices launched against abortion.
Republicans, who have won the presidential popular vote only once in the last 34 years, have engaged in a concerted effort to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing extremist judges, who have stripped us of our rights over and over again.
And though the Respect for Marriage Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, 157 House Republicans voted against it. That’s right: 157 Republicans voted against protecting interracial marriage and same-sex marriage. And ONLY 5 Republicans in the U.S. Senate have publicly said they would vote to pass the bill. It’s unacceptable, but part of the Republican agenda has been to relentlessly attack the LGBTQ+ community.
Republicans have not minced words: Florida Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (who is up for re-election in November) said that voting to protect interracial and LGBTQ+ marriage equality was a “stupid waste of time.” And when Indiana Republican U.S. Senator Mike Braun was asked if he would be okay with the Supreme Court leaving the question of interracial marriage to the states, he said “Yes.” It’s disgusting.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned, LGBTQ+ couples and families have been anxiously rushing to the courts to get married, completing second parent adoptions with their partners, worrying about whether or not their partners and families will be covered by their health insurance in the future, and so much more to protect their families from these attacks. It’s heartbreaking. No one should have to worry that their rights (that so many have fought and died for) will be stripped away at the hands of corrupt, illegitimate, and unelected Supreme Court justices that do not represent the people.
The U.S. Senate needs to act before it’s too late. It’s time to pass the Respect for Marriage Act to protect interracial and LGBTQ+ marriage NOW.
