The US House of Representatives voted last week to pass a bill to protect same-sex marriage. A large majority of 267 MPs supported the bill called "Respect for Marriage Act", including all members of the Democrats and even 47 opposition Republicans.
However, the Respect for Marriage Act also received 157 dissenting votes. And among those opposed to the rule, which would establish the right to same-sex marriage in federal law and protect it against state restrictions, is Pennsylvania Rep. Glenn Thompson. The explosive thing about it: Just three days after his vote, Thompson attended his gay son's wedding.
The MP and his wife were "thrilled to attend their son's wedding on Friday night and celebrate the beginning of this new chapter in his life," Thompson's spokeswoman Maddison Stone said via email, according to several US media outlets. "The Thompsons are very happy to welcome their new son-in-law to their family."
Thompson's son also confirmed to the US broadcaster NBC News that he "married the love of his life" on Friday and that his "father was there".
Thompson's spokeswoman Stone had sharply criticized the "Respect for Marriage Act" just a few days ago. It was "nothing more than a campaign stunt by Congressional Democrats who have failed to address historic inflation and runaway prices at the gas pump and in grocery stores," she wrote in an email to local newspaper Center Daily Times".
In fact, Democrats fear that the U.S. Supreme Court, which has moved to the right under Donald Trump's presidency, will also, after abortion rights, also review the Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodge's legalized same-sex marriage could be overturned. Arch-conservative Justice Clarence Thomas has already hinted at this intention. In a statement that Thomas released in the wake of the abortion ruling, he wrote that decisions enshrining the right to contraception, same-sex marriage, or sex between same-sex partners also deserve scrutiny. The judge explicitly mentioned the Obergefell v. Hodges.
However, the chances of success for the "Respect for Marriage Act" are slim. The law still has to be passed by the Senate, which would need at least ten Republicans to approve it. So far, however, only one senator from the Grand Old Party has publicly agreed to vote for the bill. The Democratic US President Joe Biden, on the other hand, has already made it clear that he supports the bill. And Biden has the vast majority of the US population behind him. According to a poll, 71 percent of people in the US support the right to same-sex marriage.
Sources: NBC News, "Axios", CNN, DPA
