With unanimous Democratic support and a dozen Republican votes, the Respect for Marriage Act passed the Senate and will soon land on President Joe Biden’s desk, virtuously affirming that the United States will protect same-sex unions. That this is happening just 26 years after the bill’s nasty twin, the Defense of Marriage Act, passed both houses by veto-proof majorities — and a Democratic president signed it into law — is a testament to the power of a movement to change minds.
Many have marveled over the speed with which marriage between two men or two women, once broadly considered a serious threat to core family values, has been embraced throughout the nation. In 1996, two-thirds of Americans opposed a same-sex marriage right; today, 70% of Americans support it, a figure that for the first time includes a majority of Republicans. No doubt that’s because ever more people know gay and lesbian couples and believe their partnerships should be treated with dignity.
That just 24% of Republican senators and 22% of Republican representatives in the House agree with the rank-and-file voters of their own party speaks to the same problem that bedevils other issues: It’s those on the fringes, who overwhelmingly choose their candidates in primaries in safe districts, who too often set the agenda.
