Respect for Marriage Act
The Respect for Marriage Act was signed into law December 13, 2022, by President Joe Biden. This law protects same-sex marriages as well as interracial marriages at the federal level. This act passed the house with overwhelming support from democrats but garnered little support from republicans. Acts such as this one, which passed 258-169, have had a large growth in popularity since the overturning of Roe. V. Wade this past summer.
The Respect for Marriage Act contradicts and cancels the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 which was signed by former President Bill Clinton. The Defense of Marriage Act disqualified any same-sex couple from being able to receive federal benefits and allowed states to not recognize same sex marriages that were performed in other states.
The government's control over citizens' right to marry who they love is astounding. The question of whether same sex marriage and interracial marriage violate other people's religious freedoms is extremely concerning to me. Someone's personal life should be just that, theirs. Many different religions are practiced in the United States alone. Basing laws on certain religions is controversial for a reason; they only protect a certain amount of people, and they may harm the rest from practicing their religion freely.
Religious freedom is something our country prides itself on, but do we really have it when most things are centered towards certain cultures? Instead of focusing on what certain people think is morally or religiously right, we should just let people be content and choose for themselves who they choose to spend their lives with.
“Separation of church and state is one of the best things our founding fathers put in the constitution; we should take it more seriously.”
