The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill designed to protect same-sex and interracial marriages. The vote was 61-36 with 12 Republicans joining all of the Senate Democrats in supporting its passage.
“For millions of Americans, this legislation will safeguard the rights and protections to which LGBTQI+ and interracial couples and their children are entitled,” President Biden said in a statement.
The House is expected to pass the bill as soon as next week and send it to President Biden to sign into law before the end of the year.
The legislation does not require all states to legalize same-sex marriage but it does require all states to recognize legal marriages from other states.
The urgency of such a bill became clear this summer after the Supreme Court overturned Roe and Justice Thomas set his sights on overturning Obergefell, the Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.