How we got respect for marriage | News, Sports, Jobs – Alpena News
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President Joe Biden signing the Respect for Marriage Act into law on Dec. 13, 2022, which assured legal protection for same-sex marriages nationwide, represents an evolution of thinking for our president and this country.
That was the intent by which the Founders of this nation framed the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. They could not necessarily foresee a future that would, for example, give women the right to vote or a time when people could not own, buy, sell, or trade other people. Their objective was to provide a template that could be refined over time to reflect the high ideal of creating a democracy that saw ALL people as equal and deserving.
In our 250-year history, we continue to reach forward in expanding and clarifying what constitutes freedom and equality and enshrining those ideals into law.
The metamorphosis in thinking experienced over time by Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, then Vice President Joe Biden, and now President Joe Biden, parallels the evolution in thinking experienced nationwide in regards to same-sex marriage and makes for interesting reflection and, hopefully, introspection.
In 1996, this country experienced a regrettable setback in civil liberties and freedom when Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as only occurring between a man and woman and declared no state would be required to recognize a same-gender marriage performed in another state.
Egregiously, that law was intended to prevent same-sex couples from accessing a wide range of federal benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples, which would include Social Security survivor benefits, health insurance benefits for federal employees, and filing of joint tax returns.
In 1996, when then-Sen. Biden voted for that bill and President Bill Cliniton signed the DOMA into law, only 29% of U.S. adults supported same-sex unions.
By 2012, then-Vice President Biden, when asked if he supported same-sex marriage, responded that gay couples should have “all the civil rights and liberties bestowed on heterosexual couples.” Biden went on to say marriage comes down to the simple issue of loyalty to the one you love.
The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, and, by 2015, that same Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide. Additionally, in that decision known as Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court stipulated all states must recognize the legal marriages of same-sex couples.
Evolution in the thought of one man parallelled the evolution in thinking nationwide, as, by that time, 57% of adults in the U.S. supported same-sex marriage as it was opined into law by the highest court in the nation. The country applauded that landmark decision of June 26, 2015, and that evening the White House was illuminated with rainbow colors in celebration.
Since 2015, thousands of same-sex couples have entered into marriages, created families, and have enjoyed the security and benefits available to all married couples.
In 2022, 70% of all U.S. adults reported support for same-sex unions, which represents a continuum in the evolution of equality and freedoms we hold as evidence of a free nation and free people.
As a setback, however, current and future unions resulting from the 2015 decision would be in jeopardy if the Supreme Court should revisit that decision and rule those unions are not a constitutionally protected right, such as what occurred this past summer with the decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Justice Clarence Thomas signaled that possibility following the overturn of Roe v. Wade and stated in a concurring opinion that the court “should also reconsider” the ruling that legalized same-sex marriages.
Following that revelation, President Biden believed he could rally enough support from congressional Republicans to pass the Respect for Marriage Act in the House and Senate with bipartisan majority support, and he was correct. That legislation protects present and future same-sex unions and interracial marriages and guarantees those couples and their families the rights and protections to which they are entitled should the Supreme Court decide to revisit the 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The Respect for Marriage Act requires that all states recognize marriages legally performed in any state and also repeals the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.
Heralded as the Respect for Marriage Act is, it is incomplete, as the law does not stipulate that all states must legalize same-sex marriages, only that all states must recognize same-sex marriages. That omission was purposeful in order to assure quick legislative approval and passage. So there is still work to be done.
The Respect for Marriage Act represents what the process has been all through our history … ideals evolving into action, resulting in a larger umbrella of inclusion, rather than division and exclusion.
Inclusion benefits each and every one of us, making this country stronger … and always better.