Who cares about your rights? I want to be president.
And some Republicans hoped the issue of marriage equality would simply fade away in 2016 if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of it this summer. Not so fast. Sen. Ted Cruz and 11 other GOP senators have introduced the State Marriage Defense Act, reports
Kendall Breitman. Here's what Cruz had to say for himself:
“Even though the Supreme Court made clear in United States v. Windsor that the federal government should defer to state ‘choices about who may be married,’ the Obama Administration has disregarded state marriage laws enacted by democratically-elected legislatures to uphold traditional marriage,” Cruz said in a press release.
He added, “I support traditional marriage and we should reject attempts by the Obama Administration to force same-sex marriage on all 50 states. The State Marriage Defense Act helps safeguard the ability of states to preserve traditional marriage for their citizens.”
States do not presently have to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states; but the federal government does recognize legally performed same-sex marriages regardless of where a couple lives for the purposes of some federal benefits.
Basically, what Cruz is saying is that he absolutely wants to make sure that same-sex couples are stigmatized and discriminated against no matter where in the country they married. If they reside in one of 13 states that still outlaw same-sex marriage, they would have no access to federal benefits like filing joint tax returns or inheriting a spouse's estate tax-free, or receiving a spouse's social security survivor benefits. Because all of those things are precious federal benefits reserved for different-sex couples.
I wonder if he thinks gays should be able to visit each other in the hospital. Or does he want to go back to the days when people died alone in their hospital rooms without being able to see their partner?
Cruz’s effort is joined by Senators Lee, John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), James Inhofe (R-Okla). James Lankford (R-Okla.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), and David Vitter (R-La.) Congressman Randy Weber (R-Texas).
