Representative Angie Craig Votes to Pass the Respect for Marriage Act

Press Release

Today, U.S. Representative Angie Craig voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), codify marriage equality under federal law and provide additional legal protections for marriage equality. Earlier this week, Craig helped introduce the bill alongside every openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress -- as well as Tri-Caucus Chairs Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), and Judy Chu (D-CA) and Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

"I can't believe Republicans are coming back to attack marriage equality," said Representative Craig, who along with her wife Cheryl have four adult sons and a grandson. "An extremist Supreme Court just unleashed an attack on a woman's legal right to an abortion and has suggested that overturning marriage equality and outlawing contraception may be next. Don't Republicans want to do any real work in this town? What happened to privacy and freedom in today's GOP?"

"Today, my colleagues and I joined together in passing the Respect for Marriage Act, which would put into law the right that every American is able to love and marry whomever they choose. The fact that we have to do so is ridiculous."

The Respect for Marriage Act is strongly supported by leading national organizations including: ACLU, Center for American Progress, Equality Federation, Family Equality, Freedom for All Americans, GLAD, Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, National Black Justice Coalition, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Women's Law Center and PFLAG. The bill would:

Repeal DOMA. The Supreme Court effectively rendered DOMA inert with its landmark decisions in United States v. Windsor and Obergefell. This unconstitutional and discriminatory law, however, still officially remains on the books. The bill would repeal this statute once and for all.
Enshrine Marriage Equality for Federal Law Purposes. The bill requires, for federal law purposes, that an individual be considered married if the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed. This gives same sex and interracial couples additional certainty that they will continue to enjoy equal treatment under federal law as all other married couples--as the Constitution requires.
Provide Additional Legal Protections. The bill prohibits any person acting under color of state law from denying full faith and credit to an out of state marriage based on the sex, race, ethnicity or national origin of the individuals in the marriage, provides the Attorney General with the authority to pursue enforcement actions, and creates a private right of action for any individual harmed by a violation of this provision.

Representative Craig is the first openly LGBTQ+ mother and grandmother in the history of the United States Congress and a co-chair of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus. Additionally, she is an original cosponsor of the Equality Act and the John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act of 2021.

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