I am somewhat surprised that 12 GOP Senators are going along with this. I had assumed the fear of future primary attacks would kill this bill in the Senate. I’m very curious as to the calculus the GOP Senators are making - the list of them seems to be mostly active Senators, not folks on the verge of retirement. Do they think this vote will be a non-issue in future GOP primaries? Do they want to “put the issue behind them”? Do they think that the GOP sex/hate focus will be on trans targets going forward and that gay marriage is too accepted to become a target again? I’m a little surprised.
For Romney, he already voted to impeach Trump so he may have already decided not to run again or he’s decided the damage is done and he’s just going to vote along with his principles, even in the rare instances where it diverges from the standard GOP platform.
I hesitate to use the term “principles”, but you know what I mean.
That may apply to Romney but I wonder about the other 11.
I think they see it as an improvement over Obergefell — it requires full faith and credit without requiring local state marriage equality — but I’m also surprised to see it getting so much support. I think the law is meaningless as long as Obergefell stands, and if Obergefell falls, they can have whatever local regime they want anyway. Maybe they’re confusing this with a law neutering Obergefell?
I’ve just started looking at this article, but it’s been informative so far.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3739118-these-12-gop-senators-voted-for-same-sex-marriage-bill/
Things like:
So some of them are retiring, others have been more open to supporting it already in the past. I haven’t read the the whole thing, those were just a few that were standing out as I skimmed the list.
Text of the House bill is here, BTW. Not sure how different the Senate version is.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8404/text
Good explanation of the bill here:
I wonder if they think that as a cultural wedge issue it would now drive turnout the other way, in the same way that abortion has flipped. (It used to be a reliable way to get GOP voters to the polls, but pro-choice folks weren’t as motivated by it because of Roe, and now with Dobbs we saw the situation (possibly) reversing in the last election.)
The Mormon Church came out in support of the bill on Tuesday. So that gives Romney some pretty strong cover:
Holy Crap. That is actually a big deal.
What’s heartening about that is that appears to be an actual compromise in a meaningful way. Drawing the line between a religious belief that gay marriage is wrong while still respecting the legal right to gay marriage granted by the government. I’m not sure where the Church would draw the line in a state they control, but since the RFM Act protects gay marriage even in states that don’t actually directly license it, it’s a meaningful compromise should Obergfell be overturned.
Honestly if we could draw that line on other evangelical/cultural conservative issues like abortion, that would be a reasonable basis for a compromise. Affirming the rights of churches to declare abortion a sin while churches agree to respect the law providing for choice, would be a reasonable compromise.
I’m genuinely impressed by the Mormon Church. I still don’t agree with them on almost anything, but that is a reasonable line to draw, in a diverse society where hard compromises are necessary.
About 70% of Americans are in favor of gay marriage, including well over half of Republicans. It’s slid down the backside of the culture war curve and is effectively irrelevant. Particularly there is no battleground state where it has less than 2/3 support of voters. Trying to use the issue as a wedge would only cause self-harm at this point.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around that versus the “don’t say gay” and anti-Trans views manifest in many red states and in GOP primaries.
I guess they can express their bigotry in deep red states like Florida, but it isn’t going to play nearly as well in Michigan or Arizona or Pennsylvania.
I guess we’ll see how this plays in the next round of GOP primaries.
Yup. Of course, it didn’t stop shithead Mike Lee from voting against it. But it’s Mike Lee, so what are you gonna do (not vote him out, apparently. Sigh).
Because those come with lots of scary talk about child indoctrination and grooming and doctors gender changing your kids without your knowledge or consent! Families need protecting from that scary stuff that’s definitely totally happening all over.
EDIT: And I think with gay marriage having been legal for so long now it’s defanged any of the scary talk of “traditional marriage” collapsing or whatever. So the fear tactics just don’t work anymore and people can see the issue without fear clouding their judgment.
Pelosi is stepping down.
From leadership. She’ll still be a House rep.
It was 2016 or 2018 and I was thinking the Dems needed new/younger leadership. She proved me wrong over and over and over again. Pelosi is a boss and it’s a loss to see her go.
That’s got about 10-20 years. The more folks are public, the sooner it will go away.
Biden has done more for the trans community than any other president.
I’ve had some grudging respect for the LDS, ever since they took out ads in the program for the Book of Mormon play. The ad simply said, “the book is always better”. By most accounts, they do a good job helping the poor in Utah, albeit much better if you are Mormon. Plus, unlike pretty much any other church they’ve called out the hypocrisy of Trump and Trumpist.
I agree it is a meaningful compromise, and I hope it can be a role model for similar social issues.