The U.S. House of Representatives has joined with the U.S. Senate in declaring that every marriage between two people of whatever religion or race or sexual orientation is equal under law in every state of the union. They passed the Respect for Marriage Act, 258-169-1, with outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi presiding. The bill will now go to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The legislation repeals the huge 1996 embarrassment for Congress and former President Bill Clinton that was the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a bigoted bill declaring that federal law only recognized marriage between one man and one woman. The U.S. Supreme Court essentially voided that law in the 2013 decision U.S. v. Windsor, finding DOMA unconstitutional. The court followed up in 2015 with Obergefell v. Hodges, ruling that state bans on same-sex marriage and on recognizing same-sex marriages duly performed in other jurisdictions are unconstitutional.
But what the Supreme Court gives, the Supreme Court can take away, as they did just this year with half a century of protected abortion rights. Writing in that decision, Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly threatened to throw out marriage equality. This law preempts him—and his radical colleagues—from ending marriage protections.
One of the key things that this legislation will put into law is the many federal protections that only exist by executive order. Former President Barack Obama extended those protections across a range of federal programs, including health care, immigration, labor, military service, and Social Security. Those protections could easily have been rescinded by a Republican president. That can’t happen now. It will also protect children in these marriages, requiring that states have to honor couples’ parentage of children born or adopted into the marriage.
It’s a good day for equality.
RELATED STORY: Senate pronounces all marriages equal in passing Respect for Marriage Act
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Well, that was an awesome way to finish out the 2022 election cycle! Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard revel in Raphael Warnock's runoff victory on this week's episode of The Downballot and take a deep dive into how it all came together. The Davids dig into the turnout shift between the first and second rounds of voting, what the demographic trends in the metro Atlanta area mean for Republicans, and why Democrats can trace their recent success in Georgia back to a race they lost: the famous Jon Ossoff special election in 2017.
We're also joined by one of our very favorite people, Daily Kos Elections alum Matt Booker, who shares his thoughts on the midterms and tells us about his work these days as a pollster. Matt explains some of the key ways in which private polling differs from public data; how the client surveys he was privy to did not foretell a red wave; and the mechanics of how researchers put together focus groups. Matt also reminisces about his time at "DKE University" and how his experience with us prepared him for the broader world of politics.
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