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Although homosexual marriage is already legal in the United States, the Senate this week enshrined it in legislation when it voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act. Consequently, the Defence of Marriage Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, has been repealed.

In a controversial new move, the United States Congress has moved to enshrine a degendered version of marriage in legislation.

A dozen Republican senators joined all Democratic senators to approve the bill 61–36. Significantly, three amendments aiming to further protect religious freedom were voted down.

Because it is an amended form of a bill passed in the House of Representatives in July, the legislation needs to be returned to the House for final approval before being signed into law by President Biden. It seems likely to pass the House as well, where it was originally supported 267-157 (47 Republicans joined the Democrats to support it).

Slippery Slope

A number of lobby groups, religious freedom institutes and faith groups have voiced their concerns about the new legislation.

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohlber Jr. pointed out that the bill is appalling named as it undermines society’s most fundamental institution: marriage. It undermines — not “respects” — the institution.

“Some LGBTQ activists and their allies made clear that the Respect for Marriage Act did not go far enough. Anyone who thinks the LGBTQ movement will be satisfied with forcing states to recognize same-sex marriages is delusional. Anyone who thinks the religious freedom ‘protections’ in the bill will be respected by the left is dishonest.”

The bill was also completely superfluous as same-sex marriage is already recognised by the US Supreme Court. Its necessity was justified with reference to comments by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas in the wake of the overturning of Roe v Wade back in June. Justice Thomas stated that, on the same basis as the overturning of Roe v Wade, other decisions — like the ruling that legalised homosexual marriage — should be reconsidered.

Hannah Daniel, the policy manager for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, made the following comments:

“Regardless of how any law, any government institution or our culture treats marriage, Southern Baptists remain anchored in the truth that God has defined marriage as a covenant union between one man and one woman for life. This purposeful design is for our good and our flourishing.

It is disappointing to see a majority of our U.S. senators go away from this reality and fail to amend this bill further to bolster religious liberty protections for people and institutions of faith. In the lead-up to this vote, we expressed our opposition to the bill to senators, and, now that it moves back to the House, we will continue doing so.”

Other groups that opposed the bill included the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Religious Freedom Institute and the Family Research Council.

Sloganeering

Unfortunately, in his comments on the bill’s passage, President Biden was unable to move beyond meaningless slogans. He proclaimed that America “is on the brink of reaffirming a fundamental truth: love is love, and Americans should have the right to marry the person they love.”

Before the bill passed the Senate, Brent Leatherwood, the President of the ERLC, had urged Senators to vote against it:

“Marriage is an institution created by God, not by man. No individual or government has the authority or ability to supersede its design.”

His call was not heeded, so the fight continues.

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