Today, the US House of Representatives passed the Respect for Marriage Act with a strong bipartisan vote, reaffirming the freedom to marry for hundreds of thousands of same-sex and interracial Georgians, and couples nationwide! The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk, where he is expected to sign it into law.

“Recognizing the importance of marriage, acknowledging that diverse beliefs and the people who hold them are due respect, and affirming that couples, including same-sex and interracial couples, deserve the dignity, stability, and ongoing protection of marriage is an important milestone,” said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality. “And the strong bi-partisan support of members in both chambers of Congress and support from a diverse set of conservative faith voices, is a hopeful recognition that supporting LGBTQ rights is not in conflict with conservative values.”

The Respect for Marriage Act is a bipartisan bill that would require states and the federal government to respect the marriages of same-sex and interracial couples, which is what our nation does now. Last week, the legislation cleared the U.S. Senate with a strong bipartisan majority, and President Joe Biden has vowed to sign it into law.

The Respect for Marriage Act is simple – it would:

• Repeal DOMA and get this anti-marriage federal law off the books.
• Ensure that the federal government respects all marriages equally for federal law purposes, and require that an individual be considered married if the couple’s marriage was valid in the state where it was performed.
• Prohibit any state government or person acting under color of state law from denying full faith and credit to an out-of-state marriage based on the sex, race, ethnicity or national origin of the individuals in the marriage.

Passing the Respect for Marriage Act is one action the federal government can take to protect LGBTQ+ families and all families – and ensure the dignity, stability, and ongoing protection that marriage affords to families and children.