We must reinforce the freedom to marry and get on with rebuilding and fortifying the democracy of our dreams!
(Washington, D.C. — November 16, 2022) The Following Can Be Attributed to Kierra Johnson, Executive Director, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund:
As we saw with the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, our struggle for liberation is not built on as solid a foundation as we may have imagined. Justices Alito and Thomas all but set a target on marriage equality. The status of DACA is, at best precarious. Laws intended to protect and ensure freedom of speech, the right to bear arms and religious freedom have been so twisted by extremists that they have all but lost their integrity. We must remind people of the truth of our histories and the actions of freedom fighters past and present that have yielded progress and an expansion of civil and human rights.
We are living in unpredictable and dangerous times. Unrelenting legislative attacks on transgender and non-binary people are trending. School shootings have become a near-daily occurrence, and voter suppression is considered by many to be business as usual. We must always strive for the expansion of civil and human rights. It is our responsibility to ensure all people are protected from discrimination now and in the future. But we must also fight to protect the rights we have fought for and won. For these reasons and more, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund urges swift passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
We must reinforce the freedom to marry—progress we thought was settled—and the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) can do much to achieve that goal. The RMA would require marriages to be recognized in any state if the marriages were valid in the state where it was performed. The RMA also would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman and allowed states not to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. This unconstitutional law, deemed so by the Supreme Court’s U.S. v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges rulings, should be removed from the books for the symbol of discriminatory bipartisan compromise it was in 1996 and still is today.
We are moved by the bipartisan support for The Respect for Marriage Act, and we urge Congress to take swift action and pass this bill. It is time to get on with rebuilding and fortifying the democracy of our dreams!
Kierra Johnson, Executive Director, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
CONTACT:
Cathy Renna, Communications Director, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, 917-757-6123, crenna@thetaskforce.org
Please support this bill.