President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law at a ceremony on the White House South Lawn Tuesday, November 13. The ceremony was attended by congressmembers of both parties, signifying the growing acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community across the country despite continued right-wing attacks on Trans rights this year.
"This law and the love it defends strike a blow against hate in all its forms," said Biden of the Gay marriage legislation. "And that's why it matters to every single American."
The law is the first to protect both same-sex and interracial marriages to be passed at the federal level. It also repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, passed in 1996, which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Celebration
The HRC called the Respect for Marriage Act's passing the "biggest legislative win in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality in over a decade" in a press release Tuesday.
"It should be lost on no one that this bill signing comes less than a month after a deadly attack on our community in Colorado Springs, and at a time when the community continues to face ongoing threats of online and offline violence, as well as legislative attacks on our rights," said HRC President Kelley Robinson, who attended Tuesday's ceremony with her wife and daughter. "In signing this bill, President Biden has shown that LGBTQ+ peoples' lives and love are valid and supported."
The press release also noted that HRC mobilized "242 major businesses with over 8.5 million employees, a grassroots army of more than 3 million members, supporters and volunteers, and the nation's 62 million 'Equality Voters'" in support of the Respect for Marriage Act.
The owner of Club Q and victims of the November 19 tragedy were also in attendance at the ceremony.
Here in the Emerald City, organizations of all stripes expressed their support for Biden's action on the bipartisan bill.
"[We join] our LGBTQIA+ community in breathing a collective sigh of relief that our families cannot be broken and must be treated as equal with today's signing of The Respect for Marriage Act into law," Seattle Pride said in a statement to the SGN. "This victory is symbolic of the support and protection LGBTQIA+ families deserve, and it serves as motivation to continue our pursuit of equal human rights for all."
"Today's signing of The Respect for Marriage Act into law is a victory for LGBTQ+ families, and for everyone who has fought so hard for marriage equality," said the Seattle Men's Chorus in a press release. "As the Seattle Men's Chorus returns for another season of holiday concerts, our voices will be even more joyful, for now we can say with pride and certainty, Love Wins!"
Backlash
Despite a Gallup poll stating that 71% of Americans support same-sex marriage, conservatives across the country still openly oppose it, including 169 Republicans in the House and 36 in the Senate when it came to voting on the Respect for Marriage Act. Many lawmakers opposed to the bill cite "religious and personal freedom" as their main concern. No Independents or Democrats voted against the bill before it was sent to Biden for approval.
Despite this victory for the LGBTQ+ community at large, conservative politicians across the US continue to act against Transgender and gender non-conforming Americans, a fact that Biden pointed out in his speech Tuesday.
The president accosted what he called "callous, cynical laws introduced in the states targeting Transgender children..."
"Racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, they're all connected," said Biden to the crowd of thousands gathered in DC. "But the antidote to hate is love."