I am writing you from Washington DC today, excited to share that the House just passed the Respect for Marriage Act. Loud applause broke out in the chamber when the vote was gaveled to a close. President Biden has already endorsed the law and will sign it soon.
This historic legislation overturns the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), marks a high point for bipartisan support for LGBTQ rights, and will provide protections to millions of families.
In overturning DOMA, the legislation provides a safeguard against the Supreme Court overturning Windsor and Obergefell, just as it overturned Roe and Casey this summer. More specifically, the legislation guarantees that same-sex and interracial couples will always have access to the over 1,100 federal rights and benefits attached to marriage—no matter what the Court or states might say—and that once married in one state, the couple will be recognized as married in all states.
It was almost impossible to imagine this day 26 years ago when DOMA was signed into law. Back then, 47 Democrats voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act in the House. Today, 39 Republicans in the House voted for the Respect for Marriage Act. The rights of LGBTQ people should not be a partisan issue, and we took a big step closer to reaching that reality today.
The law will provide real protections for over 1 million same-sex couples in the U.S. Based on analysis developed by the Williams Institute, last week the Census Bureau released new estimates that there are over 1.2 million cohabitating same-sex couples in the United States and over 700,000 of them are married. Because of Williams Institute research, we know that these couples are diverse, live in every community throughout our country, and raise hundreds of thousands of children. In fact, our estimate of the number of same-sex couples raising children was a key factor in Justice Anthony Kennedy's decision to rule in favor of marriage equality.
We also know that despite this historic victory for marriage equality, our work is far from over. In the last two years, we have seen a record number of attacks on LGBTQ rights in states across the country—the great majority of them targeting transgender youth. These efforts have included bills to exclude transgender youth from participating on sports teams, from accessing critical health care, and from learning about themselves and their families at school.
We will continue to generate research that responds to these attacks and moves LGBTQ rights forward—and your support will help make the next victory possible.
Thank you for joining us. We couldn’t do it without you.
Brad
The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law is an academic research institute dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.
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