Louisiana Reps Vote Against Gay & Interracial Marriage Protection

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The United States House of Representatives voted yesterday to codify the rights to gay, interracial, and interfaith marriages. The vote passed, with all House Democrats voting "yes", who were also joined by 47 Republican House members, giving the bill strong bi-partisan support.

When the US House voted on the Respect for Marriage Act, a move to codify the rights to same-sex, interracial, and interfaith marriages in the US, 5 of the 6 Representatives voted against the bill. The lone "yes" vote came from 2nd District Congressman Troy Carter. The "no" votes came from Steve Scalise, Clay Higgins, Mike Johnson, Julia Letlow, and Garret Graves. All "no" votes were Republicans.

The bill was to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was a law that defined marriage in the United States as being between a man and a woman. The text of that bill read:

"Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the "Defense of Marriage Act".

Section 2. Powers reserved to the states
No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship.

Section 3. Definition of marriage
In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."

DOMA was passed by the US House on a 342-67 vote, with 224 Republicans and 118 Democrats all voting for it in the House. In the US Senate, it passed 85-14, with all 14 "no" votes coming from Democrats. It was signed into law by Democrat President Bill Clinton in September of 1996.

The 1996 DOMA law was ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in 2013 (US vs. Windsor) and in 2015 (Obergefell vs. Hodges). The rulings against DOMA led to the legal recognition of same-sex marriage across the United States. Since 2015, the idea of same-sex marriage has been normalized throughout the US.

However, since the US Supreme Court recently ruled against nearly 50 years of precedent in the Roe vs. Wade overturning, many of these previously decided Supreme Court cases are under scrutiny. Including a case like Obergefell vs. Hodges, since Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas stated that it should be reconsidered.

Its unknown if the Respect for Marriage Act will make it the the US Senate, or what its fate would be if it did see a vote.