The signature of US President Biden is still missing, then it will apply nationwide: The right of same-sex couples to have a marriage recognized. The Supreme Court has already written it in a judgment. After the Senate, the House of Representatives also approved the amendment.
The US Congress has finally passed legislation to enshrine gay marriage. After passage by the Senate, the House of Representatives also voted in favor of the corresponding bill with a bipartisan majority. The Democrats voted unanimously for it, as did 39 Republicans. 169 Republicans voted against.
"Today, this chamber proudly stands with the forces of liberty," outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said shortly before the vote. Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, a close ally of ex-President Donald Trump, said: "I think this is the wrong way." The law, called the "Respect for Marriage Act", has yet to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
In 2015, the Supreme Court established the right of same-sex couples to marry in a historic decision. However, after the Supreme Court, which had moved increasingly to the right in recent years, abolished the country's basic right to abortions, which had been in force for almost 50 years, in June, fears grew that gay marriage could also be in danger. In a commentary on the abolition of the fundamental right to abortion, the arch-conservative constitutional judge Clarence Thomas also questioned the fundamental judgment on same-sex marriage.
The House of Representatives therefore voted in July to enshrine gay marriage in law in order to secure it independently of a possible future decision by the Supreme Court. The law passed the Senate at the end of November, but had to go back to the House of Representatives for a final vote due to some changes to its content.
The law requires all states to recognize marriages that were contracted and valid in another state. However, this does not mean that all states will have to accept same-sex marriages in the future. A law already classified as unconstitutional, which defines marriage as a bond between a man and a woman, will also be deleted.
A large majority of the US population -- more than 70 percent, according to a summer poll -- supports same-sex marriage. The religious right, however, is firmly opposed to gay marriage.
