U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., voted against moving forward with the Respect for Marriage Act on Wednesday, claiming the bill threatens religious liberty.
The legislation would repeal the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act and require states to recognize all marriages that were legal where they were performed. The new Respect for Marriage Act would also protect interracial marriages by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.”
Many Republicans in Congress have been reluctant to support the legislation, with many saying it was unnecessary while the marriages are still protected by the courts, according to the Associated Press.
Toomey said that while he is a supporter of ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, he does not support this legislation.
“The Supreme Court has recognized a right to same-sex marriage, and its recent majority opinion in Dobbs made it abundantly clear that fears the Court will overturn this right are ‘unfounded,” Toomey said.
“While the Respect for Marriage Act purports to simply codify the existing right to same-sex marriage, which is not in jeopardy, it goes far beyond that in ways that threaten religious liberty,” the senator continued.
He said the legislation would enable activists to sue faith-based groups “in an attempt to force them to abandon their deeply held beliefs about marriage, or close their doors.”
He said faith-based adoption agencies, like Philadelphia’s Catholic adoption agency, have come under attack, despite the fact that other local agencies will place children with same-sex couples.
“This legislation would dramatically increase the risk of litigation designed to put those faith-based organizations out of business,” Toomey said. “The Respect for Marriage Act does not provide any meaningful benefit to same-sex marriages that does not already exist. It does significantly threaten religious liberty.”
Toomey touted his record of supporting efforts to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, listing the following actions: Called for an end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the U.S. military (2010); Voted in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which prohibits workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity (2013); Recommended that President Obama nominate, and supported the confirmation of, the first lesbian Latina judge on the federal bench (confirmed 2013); Voted for a bipartisan amendment to prohibit organizations receiving grants under the Runaway Homeless Youth Act from discriminating against LGBT youth (2015); and led, with Sen. Markey (D-Mass.), a bipartisan letter to President Trump urging him to continue to condemn the persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons in Chechnya and hold accountable the Russian and Chechen officials responsible for flagrant human rights abuses (2018).
