President Biden will be signing the Respect for Marriage Act into law on Tuesday in a White House ceremony, enshrining gay and interracial marriages in federal law.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the event as a celebration on the South Lawn, with Vice President Kamala Harris, Democratic and Republican lawmakers and “thousands” of guests to mark the occasion.
Thirty-nine House Republicans joined House Democrats last week in supporting the bill’s final passage. Twelve Republicans voted for the legislation in the Senate, after an amendment was added ensuring that nonprofit religious groups wouldn’t be required to provide services, goods or facilities to celebrate same-sex marriages, and safeguarding religious liberty and conscience protections in federal law.
The White House said Tuesday that among the attendees would be Judy Kasen-Windsor, the widow of Edie Windsor, whose 2013 landmark case before the Supreme Court determined that legally married same-sex couples are entitled to the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples; Matthew Haynes, founding owner of Club Q, a Colorado Springs LGBTQ club where five people were killed earlier this year; Club Q survivors James Slaugh and Michael Anderson; plaintiffs in the case that enshrined same-sex marriage in federal law; the co-counsel in the case that legalized interracial marriage and a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting.
In a statement after the bill passed the House, the president said it would provide peace of mind to LGBTQI + and interracial couples, particularly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Congress has restored a measure of security to millions of marriages and families,” Mr. Biden said in a statement last week. “They have also provided hope and dignity to millions of young people across this country who can grow up knowing that their government will recognize and respect the families they build.”
The measure replaces provisions that legally define marriage as solely between a man and a woman with provisions that recognize any marriage “between two individuals that is valid under state law.” The bill also effectively requires states to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry, but some have worried that the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade could pave the way to undermine precedent set by Obergefell, too. The Supreme Court determined in 1967 that state laws barring interracial marriages were unconstitutional.
Kristin Brown contributed to this report.
