House Passes Respect for Marriage Act

The U. S. House of Representatives today passed the Senate version of the Respect for Marriage Act, by a vote of 258 to 169.  All Democrats voted for the bill, along with 39 Republicans.  After the vote, retiring Speaker of the House Nancy smiled broadly as she displayed an enrolled copy of the bill to reporters, capping her 35-year congressional career with a milestone piece of legislation.

 

Retired Senator Barney Frank (D-Mass.), was present at the enrollment ceremony and had high praise for Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), one of the sponsors of the bill.  Both Frank and Baldwin were among the first openly gay people elected to Congress.

The bill will next be sent to President Biden, who will sign it into law - I haven't heard when, but I expect that will happen very soon.

And I have one thing to say to all the catty, ratty little creeps who are already bitching and moaning about what the law doesn't do, to wit:  STFU.

Why do I say that?  Because this bill is a) the FIRST TIME gay marriage has been ENACTED into federal law; and b), it is what could be passed right now, before the House gets a Republican majority on January 3rd.  It has a strong legal effect nationwide; and it sends a powerful message that the Supreme Court will surely pay attention to.

I vividly recall that when I came out in 1980, the idea of "gay marriage" was pure fantasy, wishful thinking, as remote from reality as any science fiction story.  At that time, there was NO protection or recognition of gay couples anywhere in this country, or in any other country in the world.  No domestic partnerships, no civil unions, no marriage equality. There still isn't, over huge swaths of the earth's surface.  But today in America, fifty years after Stonewall, democracy worked out beautifully.

So I am extremely grateful to all the legislators who walked this bill over the hurdles to get it passed.  If you aren't proud and happy - you are a stupid, selfish, short-sighted jerk, so just go away.

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