U.S. House Passes Respect For Marriage Bill: How Illinois Reps Voted

ILLINOIS — Illinois lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with the majority on Thursday on landmark legislation codifying federal protections for marriages between same-sex and interracial couples.

A week after The Respect for Marriage Act passed the Senate, the House on Thursday approved the bill by a 258-169 vote, which sends the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Thursday’s vote was the second time the bill had come before the House in five months. Over the summer, 47 House Republicans joined Democrats in support of the bill.

On Thursday, 39 Republicans joined all Democrats in favor of the bill a week after Republicans also voted on the bill during last week’s Senate vote. Illinois Republicans Rodney Davis (Taylorville) was among the Republicans who voted in favor of the bill on Thursday while Darin LaHood (R-Peoria), Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro), and Mary Miller (R-Oakland) voted against the measure.

Republican Adam Kinzinger did not participate in Thursday's vote.

In Illinois, there about 43,000 same sex couples, according to U.S. Census officials and about 59 percent are married.

"Today, we stand up for the values the vast majority of Americans hold dear, a belief in the dignity, beauty and divinity, divinity, spark of divinity, in every person and abiding respect for love so powerful that it binds two people together," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a speech on the House floor following Thursday’s vote.

The Biden administration is moving quickly to pass the bill, which would ensure that same-sex and interracial marriages are enshrined in federal law before Democrats lose the House majority in January.

On Thursday, Illinois Congressman Bill Foster (D) said in a statement he is proud that the House rejected "the Trump-packed Supreme Court" and its likely targeting of same-sex and interracial marriage after the court overturned Roe v. Wade at the federal level over the summer.

"I’m proud that House members from both parties came together to reject this regressive vision for our nation and voted to ensure that all Americans can continue to marry whom they love without discrimination," Foster said in the statement on Thursday.

“The Respect for Marriage Act will enshrine protections for same-sex and interracial marriage into federal law and repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. This legislation will also ensure every state respects the marriages performed in other states regardless of the couple’s genders or races."

After last week’s Senate approval sent the bill to the House, Biden issued a statement saying that if Congress approved the bill, he would sign the bill “promptly and proudly”.

“For millions of Americans, this legislation will safeguard the rights and protections to which LGBTQI+ and interracial couples and their children are entitled,” Biden said last week.

“I look forward to welcoming them at the White House after the House passes this legislation and sends it to my desk, where I will promptly and proudly sign it into law.”

The legislation wouldn’t codify the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, nor would it require states to allow same-sex marriage. It would, however, require states to recognize all marriages that were legal when they were performed, and protect current same-sex marriages.

It would also protect interracial marriages by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.”

The issue gained momentum after the June Supreme Court decision that reversed Roe v. Wade, ending 50 years of constitutional protections on abortion. The decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case was one of the few times in history that the Supreme Court has invalidated an earlier decision declaring a constitutional right.

It sparked fears other landmark cases, including the one legalizing same-sex marriages, could fall next. In his concurring opinion in the Dobbs case, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that if the Constitution's Due Process Clause doesn't guarantee the right to an abortion, it doesn't guarantee other substantive rights, either.

Biden’s signature on the Respect For Marriage Act would be a major victory for Democrats as they usher out their two years of consolidated power in Washington and a massive win for advocates who have been pushing for decades for federal legislation legalizing same-sex marriages.

It’s noteworthy that legislation codifying marriage protections even made it to the floor for debate, Schumer said.

“A decade ago, it would have strained all of our imaginations to envision both sides talking about protecting the rights of same-sex married couples,” he said.

The Senate version included three Republican-negotiated amendments that protect the rights of religious institutions and others to still oppose same-sex marriages.

Supporters say they’re unnecessary because they are already amending the bill to clarify that it does not affect the rights of private individuals or businesses that are currently enshrined in law. That amendment would also make clear that marriage is between two people, an effort to ward off some far-right criticism that the legislation could endorse polygamy.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has been lobbying his fellow GOP senators to support the legislation for months, points to the number of religious groups who are supporting the bill, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of those groups were part of negotiations on the bipartisan amendment.

“They see this as a step forward for religious freedom,” Tillis said.

The support of some religious groups reflects the changing public sentiment on the issue — recent polling has found more than two-thirds of the public supports same-sex unions. But Congress has been slower to act.