“Marriage should be between a spouse and a spouse, not a gender and a gender.”
― Hendrik Hertzberg
Marriage is not an insignificant matter rather; it is essential component in one’s life to pursue happiness, as acknowledged by most religions and cultures. The new bill neutralizing the role of gender in defining the marriage was introduced in US- the Respect for Marriage Act.
Recently US Senate had passed the same-sex marriage bill, titled as the Respect for Marriage Act (“Bill”). The Bill establishes same-sex marriage as a constitutional right and it requires the federal government and all states to recognize a marriage between two people if it was legal in the state where it was performed. The Bill also bans both the federal government and the states from refusing to recognize valid marriages on the basis of a couple’s “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.” The Bill seeks to repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, 1996 which barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage and legally defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The Defense of Marriage Act gave the federal definition of ‘marriage’ as only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife; and defined ‘spouse’ as only a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife.
In 2015, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in the landmark judgment of Obergefell v. Hodges and declared that states cannot ban same-sex marriages, also declaring that gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans have a constitutional right to marry. This ruling of Supreme Court overruled the Defense of Marriage Act, 1996. In July 2022 the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the constitutional right to an abortion ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization after which Justice Clarence Thomas raised concern over this issue.
The Respect for Marriage Act, states that no state could disregard a same-sex marriage, if it was legal under a different state law—which had not been the case prior to 2015. It would require the states to accept a same-sex marriage that took place in a state where it is permitted. This Bill will also repeal provisions that do not require states to recognize same-sex marriages from other states or deny full claims to unions based upon sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. The Bill creates a private right of action for violations and permits the Department of Justice to initiate a civil case.
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