“Marriage for all” in the US Senate on track – thanks to the votes of 12 Republicans 2 dead after rocket attack in Poland – an overview in 6 points

The US has taken an important step towards legalizing same-sex marriage. The U.S. Senate secured a sufficient majority to pass a corresponding bill.

Significantly, 12 Republicans joined the 50 Democratic senators on Wednesday. It took at least 60 votes to pass the bill, and Democrats needed support from the Republican camp.

The draft still needs to be approved by the Senate in a vote expected in the coming days or weeks and by the House of Representatives. Then President Joe Biden can sign it. “Americans should have the right to marry the person they love,” Biden said.

Biden’s Democrats will hold the majority in the House of Representatives until the end of the year. In the next legislature, after last week’s election, Republicans will have limited control of the chamber. Democrats must hurry to get major legislative projects through.

Same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States by a 2015 Supreme Court decision that declared unconstitutional a 1996 law that established marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

This year, however, concerns arose after the Supreme Court reversed its 1970s ruling on abortion rights by a conservative majority. And one of the judges, Clarence Thomas, cited the same-sex marriage decision in a series of rulings that the court must reconsider. (sda/dpa)