Tuesday’s U.S. Senate vote approved a bill protecting same-sex marriage. It was supported by both Alaskan senators. However, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan views it as a religious liberty bill.
As U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski entered the Senate chamber to vote on the bill, she stated that it provides certainty for gay couples that their marriages would be recognized nationally.
She stated, “I have always believed that marriage should be recognized in such a way that it recognizes the love between two people.”
Sullivan entered the chamber and went straight to work without speaking to reporters. Later, Sullivan released a statement stating that he voted for the bill because it protects religious groups’ freedom to recognize only “traditional marriage.”
Sullivan says that the bill is more about “promoting and expanding religious liberty protections” than it is about same-sex marriage.
The legislation was passed with 61 votes. This is one more than the required. Sullivan and Murkowski were two of the 12 Republicans who voted for it.
Respect for Marriage bills says that states cannot refuse to issue valid marriage licenses from other states based on race or gender. It also states that religious non-profits may refuse to offer services for celebrating same-sex marriages to win over enough Republicans.
This bipartisan vote shows how far this nation has come in just a few decades. The bill repeals Defense of Marriage Act. This law limited federal recognition of married couples to those who were not of the same sex. In 1996, it was passed by Congress with a huge majority.
In 2015, the Supreme Court invalidated this definition with an Obergefell-v. Hodges decision. This made gay marriage legal across the country. Justice Clarence Thomas stated this summer that the court could reconsider that decision. This set off a scramble by gay rights advocates to include marriage protections in federal law.
In his statement, Sullivan stated that he did not agree with the Obergefell decision. His statement does not mention whether he supports gay marriage rights.
Jim Minnery (president of Alaska Family Action), a right-leaning Christian advocacy group, was not convinced by his reasons for supporting the bill.
“Sen. Minnery stated in an emailed statement that Sullivan had “just let us down in a large way.”
Respect for Marriage Act is the new bill. It’s expected that it will pass easily in the House.
