Barely a week after the US midterm elections, the final results of which are still awaited, a rare cross-partisan vote took place in the Senate on Wednesday, November 16, on same-sex marriage in the United States.
After an agreement reached at the beginning of the week between elected officials from the Democratic and Republican sides, the senators voted, by a majority of 62 – including twelve elected Republicans – against 37, in favor of a procedural provision which puts Congress on the right track. enshrine in federal law the right to union of persons of the same sex.
A final vote could take place as early as this week or later before the end of November. If passed, the legislation would require states to recognize all legal marriages where they were performed.
weeks of negotiations
In the United States, same-sex unions have been guaranteed by the Supreme Court since 2015 with the judgment “Obergefell v. Hodges”. But after the high court’s historic flip-flop on abortion in June, many progressives fear that right will also be unraveled.
In mid-July, the US House of Representatives passed a law to protect these unions across the country. All Democrats and 47 Republicans had supported the text. But nearly 160 Republicans opposed it.
In the Senate, negotiations had been underway for weeks to ensure the support of at least ten Republicans for the text, necessary for its passage due to qualified majority rules. A group made up of senators from both parties announced Monday that an agreement had been reached in this regard.
Opposition from the religious right
Senate Democrats are moving quickly to pass the bill while their party still controls the upper house. Republicans are on the verge of winning a majority in the House of Representatives and are unlikely to address the issue next year.
This text “will ensure that LGBTQI+ and mixed couples are consistently respected and protected under federal law”greeted President Joe Biden in a statement.
A large majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, including in the Republican ranks. But the religious right remains mostly opposed to it.
Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, said the bill ensuring legal recognition of same-sex unions is a chance for the Senate to “to live up to one’s highest ideals” and to protect equal marriage for all. “It will make our country a better and fairer place to live”Mr. Schumer said.