The United States Senate has approved the historic legislation providing federal protections for same-sex marriages in a bipartisan vote.
The bill, known as the Respect for Marriage Act, received support from both sides of the increasingly polarised political divide. Needing 60 votes to pass, the evenly divided upper chamber voted 61 to 36, with 12 Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues in support of the proposal.
“What a great day,” explained U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer on the Senate floor after the bill’s passage.
With the approval by the upper chamber, the bill now moves closer to President Biden’s final approval, with the measure returning to the House for a vote by the Democratic-led chamber before reaching Biden’s desk.
The Respect for Marriage Act was introduced in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in June and will repeal the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act and safeguards interracial marriages by requiring that valid marriages are recognized regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity or national origin.”
