Congressman Schiff on House Passage of the Respect for Marriage Act
“Last month, the Supreme Court issued a devastating opinion striking down Roe v. Wade, overturning decades of precedent and setting off alarm bells for millions of LGBTQ+ individuals who now fear that the loss of even more of their rights may be next. As Justice Thomas made clear in his concurring opinion, overturning Roe is just the beginning for this reactionary court – and he name-checked the right to same-sex marriage as one of the next rights that could fall.
“The Respect for Marriage Act, which I’m proud to co-sponsor, will protect the precedents laid out in Obergefell v. Hodges and Loving v. Virginia and enshrine the right to marriage equality for LGBTQ+ couples and interracial couples. It is difficult to fathom that in 2022 we must take such aggressive action – yet this Court has made such action necessary.
“Congress must not let a partisan, unrepresentative body roll back the clock on all the rights we hold dear. The Senate must now take up and pass this bill without delay.”
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