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Joy after the vote among US Democrats Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi
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MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPO
The US Congress has finally decided to enshrine marriage for all in law.
After passing the Senate, the House of Representatives also voted in favor of the corresponding bill with a non-partisan majority on Thursday.
The Democrats voted unanimously for it, as did 39 Republicans.
169 Republicans voted against.
"Today, this chamber proudly stands with the forces of liberty," outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said shortly before the vote.
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, a close ally of ex-President Donald Trump, said, "I think that's the wrong way to go." The law, called the Respect for Marriage Act, must now be put into effect by President Joe Biden with his signature.
Fear of Supreme Court verdict
In 2015, the Supreme Court established the right of same-sex couples to marry in a historic decision.
However, after the Supreme Court, which has moved increasingly to the right in recent years, abolished the country's basic right to abortion, which had been in force for almost 50 years, in June, fears grew that marriage could also be in danger for everyone.
In a comment on the abolition of the basic right to abortions, the arch-conservative constitutional judge Clarence Thomas also questioned the fundamental judgment on marriage for all.
The House of Representatives therefore voted in July to make marriage legal for all, to secure it regardless of a possible future decision by the Supreme Court.
The law passed the Senate at the end of November, but had to go back to the House of Representatives for a final vote due to some changes to its content.
The law requires all states to recognize marriages that were contracted and valid in another state.
However, this does not mean that all states will have to have same-sex marriages in the future.
A law already classified as unconstitutional, which defines marriage as a bond between a man and a woman, will also be deleted.
A large majority of the US population—more than 70 percent, according to a summer poll—support same-sex marriage.
The religious right, however, is firmly against marriage for all.
According to official figures, there are around 568,000 same-sex couples in the United States.
sol/AFP/Reuters
