The United States Senate will vote this week on a law that protects same-sex marriage, its Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced Monday, following an agreement reached between elected officials of both parties.
In the United States, same-sex unions have been guaranteed by the Supreme Court since 2015. But after the high court’s historic overturn on abortion, many progressives fear that this right, too, could crumble.
In mid-July, the US House of Representatives passed legislation to protect these unions across the country. All the Democrats and 47 Republicans had supported the text. But nearly 160 Republicans opposed it.
“A Necessary Step”
In the Senate, they had been negotiating for weeks to ensure the support of at least ten Republicans for the text, necessary for its approval by qualified majority rules. A group made up of senators from both parties announced Monday that an agreement had been reached on the matter.
The text is a “necessary step” to grant millions of couples “the freedoms, rights and responsibilities that emanate from all other marriages,” argued Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema.
A first procedural vote on this text, which also protects interracial couples, will be organized on Wednesday, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. The elected official urged the conservative opposition to rally around the bill which he called “extremely important”.
A large majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, even in Republican ranks. But the religious right remains largely opposed.
Source: BFM TV
