This past Tuesday, the Respect for Marriage act passed the Senate with 12 Republicans voting for the legislation along with 49 Democrats. This historic Senate vote repeals the Defense of Marriage Act and guarantees protections for same-sex married couples should the Supreme Court overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.
Behind the scenes a group of Democrat and Republican senators - Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) - spent months working to get enough Republicans onboard with the legislation, according to this article in the Washington Post.
As we highlighted in a Common Ground post, 71% of Americans said they support the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that same sex marriages should be legal in all 50 states. Significant majorities of Democrats (89%) and independents (77%) were in support. A narrow minority of Republicans (46%) also supported the ruling, according to a Quinnipac University poll from August.
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