Alabama, Georgia Republicans vote against Respect for Marriage Act | Don’t Miss This | #republicans | #Alabama | #GOP

ATLANTA — Though some Republicans in Congress helped bolster the Respect for Marriage Act to passage, all of Alabama and Georgia’s GOP lawmakers were among the majority of Republicans who voted against the landmark bill.

The Act repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, a law signed by former President Bill Clinton that defined marriage as the union between a man and a woman, and allowed states to determine their own definition of marriage.

The new Act also codifies marriage rights and protections to both same-sex and interracial couples as it pertains to social security, taxes and benefits, records, and proceedings.

“Marriage is not defined in the Constitution, which means, according to the 10th Amendment, it should be left to the states to decide, as Georgia did in 2004 when voters overwhelmingly added to the state constitution an amendment preserving marriage between a man and a woman,” states the website of Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice, who voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, Dec. 8.

In 2004, nearly 76 percent of Georgia voters, or more than 2.45 million, voted to amend the state’s constitution to recognize marriage as a union only between a man and a woman; prohibit same-sex marriage in the state; and to not recognize the union between persons of the same sex as entitled to the benefits of marriage.

In 2006, Alabama voters also approved a similar amendment to its constitution. More than 81 percent, or nearly 700,000 Alabama voters, approved an amendment prohibiting and not recognizing same-sex marriage in the state.

Both amendments were subsequently ruled unconstitutional in 2015, the result of a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges. That decision guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage through the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Alabama Senators Richard Shelby and Tommy Tuberville, both Republicans, voted against the Respect for Marriage Act Nov. 29.

“I believe that marriage was created as a sacred union between one man and one woman, and we must do all within our power to protect it,” Shelby’s website states. “Therefore, in light of a number of recent Supreme Court decisions, I support a Constitutional Amendment that would strictly define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.”

Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both Democrat, voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act.

“The right to choose our spouse, to choose the person with whom we start a family, is fundamental,” Ossoff said.

The Senate had approved an amended version of the Act Nov. 29 in a 61-36 vote. The bill was sent back to the House, which approved the amended version Dec. 8 in 258-169 vote that included 39 Republican votes in the affirmative.

The amendment adds religious liberty protections clarifying that nonprofit religious organizations will not be required to provide any services, facilities, or goods for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage. The amendment also stipulates that the Act can’t be used to deny or alter any benefit, right or status of an otherwise eligible person or entity if it does not arise from a marriage.

A Gallup survey released in June found that 71 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage rights.

Polling conducted late July by the Human Rights Campaign — the nation’s largest civil rights organization — shows that Alabama is among just a few states with less than 50 percent support for gay marriage rights.

According to the poll of likely voters, only 49 percent of Alabamians support same-sex marriage, and Arkansas and Mississippi had lesser support for gay marriage.

While a majority of the country supports gay marriage by more than 60 percent, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee are the states that narrowly clenched 50 percent support. Sixty percent of Georgians support same-sex marriage rights, according to the survey.

“At a time when the LGBTQ+ community continues to face ongoing attacks – from deadly violence to legislative assaults on our rights – today’s vote is a clear victory for this country’s 568,000 same-sex married couples, including me,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said. “The fact that this bill passed with strong bipartisan support in both chambers proves that marriage equality is supported by a wide swath of the American people.”