Senate Advances Bill To Codify Same-Sex Marriage Protections

The Senate on Wednesday advanced legislation to codify protections for same-sex marriage, clearing a major procedural hurdle that required the support of 10 Republicans.

The Senate voted 62 to 37 to move forward with the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that would formally repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 federal law that banned same-sex marriage but that was overturned by the 2015 Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. The bill would also require states to recognize valid same-sex and interracial marriages performed in other states.

A bipartisan group of senators has spent months trying to find enough GOP support to move the bill, which needed 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Every Democrat backs the bill, which meant the group needed at least 10 GOP senators. By Wednesday, they had 12.

Those Republicans were Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Roy Blunt (Mo.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Todd Young (Ind.).