The US Congress approves the law for the protection of homosexual marriage

MADRID, 8 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The House of Representatives of the United States Congress has approved this Thursday the bill to safeguard homosexual unions, in a measure that only remains the signature of the president, Joe Biden, and marks unprecedented federal protection for marriage between people of the same sex.

The legislation, titled the Respect Marriage Act, has passed with a remarkable bipartisan consensus, 258 in favor to 169 against, thanks to Republicans winning an additional amendment giving religious organizations some leeway in this sense. Following this amendment, 39 Republican congressmen have given their vote.

This amendment removes obligations on religious organizations to provide services that support same-sex marriage and ensures that the federal government does not recognize polygamous marriage.

It should be remembered, according to 'The Hill', that the measure was already approved last week in the Senate by 61 votes in favor to 36 against after months of negotiations, with the support of 12 Republican senators.

After the approval of the bill in the Senate, Biden has assured that he will ratify it "with pride and speed" to enshrine federal protections for same-sex couples and interracial couples, ordering states to recognize marriages regardless of " sex, race, ethnicity or national origin of those persons".

Additionally, the measure repeals the Defense of Marriage Law, a 1996 law that recognizes marriage as "solely the legal union between a man and a woman as husband and wife," and refers to the word spouse as "a person of the opposite sex who is husband or wife".