House Passes Bill Codifying Federal Right to Same Sex Marriage

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on Dec. 8 that would codify same-sex and interracial marriage as a federally recognized right.
The Respect for Marriage Act, or H.R. 8404, passed on a bipartisan 258–169 vote. Thirty-nine Republicans joined all Democrats in the lower chamber to pass the bill. One Republican voted present, and four didn’t vote. The legislation now heads to the White House for President Joe Biden’s signature into law; he has said he’ll sign it.
The House had approved the measure in July but was voting again because the Senate amended the proposal in November.
The bill includes a codification of the Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which declared a federal right to same-sex marriage on grounds of the 14th Amendment’s “equal protection” clause….}