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The Senate is poised Tuesday to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, which would enshrine marriage equality into federal law, granting protections to same-sex and interracial couples.
Enough senators are expected to support the bill — which includes a bipartisan amendment that clarifies protections for religious liberties — for it to pass in a vote scheduled for late Tuesday afternoon. In a procedural vote Monday, the Senate advanced the bill, 61 to 35, surpassing the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. If the Senate passes the bill, the amended version would return to the House for another vote before it could go to President Biden to sign into law.
The Respect for Marriage Act would not force states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples but would require that people be considered married in any state as long as the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed. The bill also would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which…
This article was written by Amy B Wang and originally published on www.washingtonpost.com