US Senate passes bill to protect same-sex marriage

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US Senate passed a bill Tuesday that provides federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.

The Respect for Marriage Act cleared the upper chamber of Congress in a 61-36 vote, with support from 12 Republicans. It needed 60 votes from the 100-seat chamber to pass.

The bill next goes to the House of Representatives as that chamber is set to move to Republican control in early January.

"No matter who you are or who you love, you too deserve dignity and equal treatment under the law," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote.

President Joe Biden welcomed the passage of the bill, saying "for millions of Americans, this legislation will safeguard the rights and protections to which LGBTQI+ and interracial couples and their children are entitled".

"With today’s bipartisan Senate passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, the United States is on the brink of reaffirming a fundamental truth: love is love, and Americans should have the right to marry the person they love," he added.

If cleared at House, it will head to Biden's desk to be enacted into law.

The Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in the US in 2015.