When Roe v Wade was reversed, Justice Samuel Alito wrote a scathing opinion attacking the activist judicial philosophy that has led to questionable Supreme Court decisions.
Alito went after the landmark decision that legalized gay marriage in the United States in 2015, Obergefell v. Hodges.
His opinion raised concern that marriage equality/same-sex marriage, among other things, would be next on the chopping block in the Supreme Court.
In response, the House passed a bill yesterday that would legalize same-sex marriage at the federal level.
The marriage equality bill, called the “Respect For Marriage Act”, received unanimous support from Democrats, but divided House Republicans and will likely divide Senate Republicans.
House and Senate Republicans in Florida are also divided on the bill.
Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fl. said that he would not vote for the bill and called it a “stupid waste of time”.
Marco Rubio told me that he is a NO on House’s same-sex marriage bill, calling it a “stupid waste of time”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 20, 2022
Senator Rick Scott, R-Fl. seems open to voting for the bill. Scott said that he will “look at it (the bill) when it gets here” signaling that he is not a certain No vote. When the Obergefell v. Hodges decision was handed down in 2015, Scott called marriage equality “the law of the land”.
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Then there were those who were “reviewing” the legislation.
“My staff is looking at it right now,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
“There’s no actual need for a vote, but whatever the bill is I’ll look at it when it gets here,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). https://t.co/R8LcLIpfkC
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 20, 2022
Rubio’s likely opponent, Val Demings, D-Fl. issued a statement explaining her vote in favor of the bill. She has not specifically responded to Rubio’s statement calling it a “waste of time” as of Thursday afternoon.
Anti-LGBTQ radicals want to strip away the equal rights of Americans. Today I voted to protect the rights of all Americans to marry the person of their choice. https://t.co/AW4i0Z7BmF
— Rep. Val Demings (@RepValDemings) July 19, 2022
“Equality under the law is an American value. We’re going to stand up for freedom and refuse to go back into a discriminatory past,” Demings said in a statement.
“A small group of politicians does not get to dictate America’s future in this government of the people. Every married couple must have fair and equal access to all of the benefits of marriage, from Social Security to veterans and military benefits to health care. I’ll always fight for your freedom and I’m proud to help support legislation to protect every American couple’s fundamental right to have their marriage treated as equal under federal law.”
Six House Republicans from Florida also voted for the marriage equality bill.
Reps. Kat Cammack, Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez, Brian Mast, María Elvira Salazar and Michael Waltz voted in favor of it while ten House Republicans from Florida voted against it.
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