Senate poised to approve same-sex marriage bill

WASHINGTON — The Senate was expected to pass a bill Tuesday to protect the hard-won rights of same-sex and interracial couples to marry, answering concerns raised after the Supreme Court overturned the five-decade-old right to an abortion earlier this summer.

The Respect for Marriage Act would require all states to recognize marriage licenses from the the states that grant them to same-sex and interracial couples.

While 12 Republicans have backed the measure — making it all but certain to pass — many of the Senate’s more conservative members still oppose it and claim it is unnecessary, arguing the high court is unlikely to address the issue regardless of conservative Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion, who had argued that the court should also reconsider its landmark cases protecting rights to contraception, gay marriage and same-sex relationships when the right to an abortion was overturned.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), however, argued that the country shouldn’t take that chance.

“Millions of Americans deserve equal justice under the law and the peace of mind knowing their right to marry the person they love is protected,” Schumer said Monday before the Senate cleared to way for Tuesday’s final vote.

“It’s notable that the Senate is having this debate to begin with,” Schumer added, noting that a dozen Republicans do support the measure. “A decade ago, it would have strained all of our imaginations to envision both sides talking about protecting the rights of same-sex married couples. America does move forward, although sometimes in difficult ways.”

Still, Schumer and backers of the bill had to agree to allow votes on three conservative-backed amendments to the bill, including one by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) that essentially would made enforcement of same-sex marriage rights impossible when someone asserts a religious objection.

His amendment is unlikely to get the 60 votes needed, since 50 Democrats oppose it as well as most of the 12 GOP backers. Amendments by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) are also expected to fail.

In order to secure the support of those dozen Republicans, the bill’s sponsors had to accept an amendment before it came to the floor that exempts churches from recognizing same-sex marriages, and protects religious institutions’ federal tax-exempt status.

That move won over such groups as the Mormon church, but angered some gay rights advocates who noted that while the Respect for Marriage Act requires states to recognize same-sex marriage licenses, it does not require all states to issue such licenses. Only 15 states currently grant marriage licenses for gay couples.