• Twelve Republicans joined all fifty Democrats in the chamber to cross a procedural obstacle.
• In mid-July, the House of Representatives passed a nationwide bill to safeguard same-sex unions.
• The bill must return to the House for a final vote once it clears the Senate.

A plan to grant federal protection to same-sex marriages passed in the US Senate on Wednesday with rare bipartisan support, as Democrats rushed to protect such unions while they still controlled Congress.

Twelve Republicans joined all fifty Democrats in the chamber to cross a procedural obstacle requiring 60 affirmative votes, allowing the bill on a formerly controversial issue to advance to the full Senate.

In last week’s midterm elections, President Joe Biden’s Democrats kept control of the Senate by a razor-thin margin, but Republicans are projected to win the lower House of Representatives, albeit by a similarly slim margin.

This portends a divided legislature and gridlock when the next Congress is inaugurated in January.

Since 2015, the United States Supreme Court has guaranteed same-sex marriages.

In contrast, with the Supreme Court’s historic reversal of a longstanding judgment preserving the right to abortion earlier this year, many progressives fear that same-sex marriage may also be threatened.

In mid-July, the House of Representatives passed a nationwide bill to safeguard such unions. The bill was backed by all House Democrats and 47 Republicans, but opposed by over 160 Republicans.

[embedpost slug = “/democrats-aim-to-pass-bills-protecting-same-sex-marriage/”]

The bill must return to the House for a final vote once it clears the Senate, for which a vote is expected soon but no date has been scheduled.

“Love is love, and Americans should have the right to marry the person they love,” Biden said in a statement in which he vowed to sign the bill once it was passed. “Today’s bipartisan vote brings the United States one step closer to protecting that right in law.”

The bill that was enacted on Wednesday does not mandate that states legalize same-sex marriage. However, they are required to accept same-sex weddings in other states.

So, if the Supreme Court were to reverse its 2015 rule that allowed same-sex weddings, states that prohibit same-sex marriages would still be required to accept those performed in other jurisdictions.

Polls indicate that a large majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, but the issue remains contentious. Wednesday, 37 Republicans voted ‘no,’ and the religious right remained overwhelmingly opposed to such unions.

Mitch McConnell, who exerts significant influence over his caucus as minority leader, voted against the bill.

[embedpost slug = “/pope-francis-calls-for-legal-protection-for-same-sex-couple/”]