It took guts, perhaps along with a careful look at polling results, for 47 House Republicans to join their Democratic colleagues in approving a bill late last month to codify interstate recogniton of same-sex marriages. Rep. Ann Wagner was the sole Missouri Republican to support it. In these hyperpartisan times, any such vote risks putting Republicans on a target list for removal for veering even slightly from strict conservative orthodoxy.
The Respect for Marriage Act, which faces a difficult but not insurmountable climb in the Senate, was necessary only because of the Supreme Court’s reversal of abortion rights and a hint by conservative justices that same-sex marital rights could be next. The only way to stave off such a reversal is for Congress to codify it in law — as Democrats should have done long ago for abortion rights when they controlled both houses.
For Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, voting for same-sex marital rights probably wasn’t a heavy lift, given projections of her reelection defeat. Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, already has publicly supported same-sex marital rights, and Liz Cheney’s sister is a married lesbian.
For other Republicans, the risks were more substantial. The woman who ousted Cheney from the No. 3 GOP leadership post, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, also supported the bill, as did the National Republican Campaign Committee chairman, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, and House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
The rest of the arch-conservative Freedom Caucus had urged members to vote against the bill, denouncing it as part of “an all-out campaign” by the “radical Left” to attack “America’s traditional values and sacred institutions. … This bill is both unnecessary and undermines the recognition of ‘marriage’ between only one man and one woman.”
Perry countered that “my vote affirmed my long-held belief that Americans who enter into legal agreements deserve to live their lives without the threat that our federal government will dissolve what they’ve built,” he told the York, Pennsylvania, Daily Record.
This marks one of those rare moments when some brave Republicans are choosing to stand on principle instead of blindly following the GOP pack. A Gallup poll in June found that a record 70% of respondents support same-sex marriage, including 55% of Republicans.
In the Senate so far, only a few Republicans have signaled a willingness to support the bill, and skeptics are lashing out. Despite the enormous weight the gay community carries in urban parts of Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio denounced it as “a stupid waste of time.”
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley plans to vote no. But outgoing Sen. Roy Blunt remains undecided, telling CNN: “I don’t have any problem with same-sex marriage, but I’m not sure. I want to look at the legislation.” He’s had more than enough time. And given that he’s leaving after this term, what does Blunt have to lose?
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