Same-Sex Marriage Bill Passes in House

Legislation passed a bill to strengthen the laws of same-sex marriage in this country, last month. This legislation is part of the ongoing effort to strengthen vulnerable laws after the Supreme court Roe v. Wade decision. Whether this ongoing effort to protect laws like interracial marriage or same-sex marriage will be successful is still to be seen. According to The Washington Post, ”Forty seven Republicans joined all House Democrats in passing the measure that also would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.” This is surprising because of the recent direction the republican party has been going in.

This sort of bipartisan activity is becoming rarer in this hyperpolarized political landscape. For example: ”Both parties have moved further away from the ideological center since the early 1970s. Democrats on average have become somewhat more liberal, while Republicans on average have become much more conservative,” according to the Pew Research Center. It is nothing short of a miracle that this passed Congress.

However, it also must pass the Senate and then be passed by the president. This process will be difficult seeing as how The Democrats and Republicans are about even in the senate. There are two independents but they aren’t republicans so that’s all that really matters. With Kamala Harris being the Vice President (a democrat), that breaks the tie. If all the democrats vote on party lines in the Senate, plus those two independents — and Harris breaks the tie — they will have the 51 votes they need. However, this is a lot of hoops to jump through for a very popular policy.

According to the Pew Research Center, ”Based on polling in 2019, a majority of Americans (61%) support same-sex marriage, while 31% oppose it.” With a policy this popular, it shouldn’t have to go through this many hoops. The ideas of millions of Americans shouldn’t be shot down because one senator decided they disagreed. In fact, this isn’t the only issue where very popular policies that millions of Americans support were completely trampled upon by the U.S. government. This sort of behavior is simply unbecoming of a country that passes itself off as a “democracy”.

Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Edited by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

The Washinton Post: House passes measure that would codify same-sex marriage into law with bipartisan support; By John Wagner and Mariana Alfaro

Pew Research Center: Attitudes on Same-Sex Marriage

Pew Research Center: The polarization in today’s Congress has roots that go back decades; Drew Desilver