The Marriage Equality Act was passed and signed. What are y’alls thoughts on it?

49 comments

1. What took so long and why was there so much opposition?

2. Glad we got people’s rights back to where we all assumed they were

3. Relief. I remember where I was when I found out that gay marriage was legal in 2015. The sheer relief I felt was indescribable. I wasn’t even dating anyone let alone thinking of marriage but the knowledge that I could get married was such a wonderful feeling. And then ever since I’ve been a little worried it’d be taken away before I ever got the chance to use it. I’d like to foster kids though so I imagine that might be an issue. I’d have to get foster licensed through a secular agency. But hey at least I can get married!!!!!!!

4. It’s the way it should have been from the beginning. It should never have rested on a SCOTUS decision. Not as ideal as a constitutional amendment, but a good decision nonetheless.

5. Its a good thing.

6. I use to be against legalizing same-sex marriage. Then I really thought about it after finding out one of my friends was gay. After some serious thought it hit me that I don’t really care who someone else sleeps with, that is their business and why shouldn’t two people that love each other get the same legal benefits as a heterosexual couple. I guess to me it came down to a question of basic fairness and living up to the societal ideals that so many seem to say a free country is supposed to be about.

7. This is how it was supposed to be done to begin with.

   I’m fine with it.

8. It makes me sad that it was even a question. If two adults love each other they should be able to get married. It doesn’t matter if they are different races or the same sex.

9. It makes the US closer to justice and liberty for all and that’s a good thing

10. Turns out i am an idiot i already thought something like this was done under Obama

11. I’m happy about it. I don’t see a reason why interracial and same sex marriage should even be up for debate.

12. Very happy. My daughter is gay

13. As far as I’m concerned this is good. But I’d really prefer to see an Amendment in the Constitution so marriage rights are more ironclad (as long as it doesn’t give the government more power over it. IMO, the government should have no say in the relationships of consenting adults.) Depending on how it’s worded, SCOTUS could deem it unconstitutional at any point should someone challenge it.

    Edit: I also want to clarify that SCOTUS doesn’t make these rulings without someone coming forth to challenge it. Nor do they take rights away. Your legislators do. The Supreme Court’s job is to only interpret if a law is Constitutional or not on that case. SCOTUS doesn’t legislate. Congress does, and they’ve had years to address same sex marriage rights and didn’t bother.

14. Relieved, but frustrated that some politicians still see us (the queer community) in such contempt, that they still vote against it, even long after most of the country has accepted same-sex marriage.

15. SO HAPPY!!!

16. Any consenting adult should be able to marry whichever consenting adult they want to. Marriage has no “sanctity” that should concern the state. Just ask my cheating ex wife.

17. Happy for my LGBTQ+ friends.

18. It’s not enough, but it’s step in the right direction.

    The SCOTUS could still scupper it with one bad decision, though.

19. I’m for it, people should be allowed to be with the person that makes them happy. As a white male married to a black woman, I appreciate the protection to interracial marriages too. It’s nobody else’s business who you’re married to. For the religious people who are against it…. Not everybody believes in what you do

20. Love it!! Everyone deserves to be happily and legally married if they so desire. (((Hugs))) to every single person celebrating!

21. Thank God.

    I am gay-married and my wife & I have been very scared that our marriage would be taken away.

    We live in a state with a terrible state legislature, so they would have moved to disregard our marriage as soon as SCOTUS made it legal for them to do so.

    Now the marriages of millions will be safe, and this right will exist for generations to come.

    Remember: we have only had this right in all states for 7 years. They could have taken it away so quickly.

22. Wish someone would decide to start caring about women. The *Hobby Lobby* ruling was nearly a decade ago…..

23. Some of the best news of the year for me!

24. Good. Rights shouldn’t rest solely on court decisions, if recent events lit a fire under that concept then perhaps there is a razor thin silver lining to the fall of roe.

25. It’s a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough. If the SCOTUS overturns their previous decisions on gay and interracial marriages, then this doesn’t prevent states from banning issuing marriage licenses for whatever reason they choose. They will be forced to recognize marriages made in any state, but they can still put up barriers and force people to go to other states to get married.

26. I’m glad that it passed. It’s surely better than nothing, but it doesn’t do nearly enough.

    I think what a lot of people don’t realize is that this law doesn’t protect same-sex and interracial marriages to the extent that Obergefell and Loving (the two SCOTUS cases protecting those rights, respectively) do.

    Under Obergefell and Loving, states cannot deny the right to marry based on sex or race because the right to marry is a fundamental right and cannot be abridged based on those classifications, so every state must allow same-sex and interracial marriages.

    Under the Respect for Marriage Act, states can deny the right to marry based on sex or race, but if a same-sex or interracial couple gets married in another state, then all states are obligated to recognize that marriage.

    So if Obergefell and Loving were overturned (which I don’t think would happen because I don’t think it would get enough votes from Supreme Court justices,) but if those cases were overturned, then states would be able to deny same-sex and interracial marriages if they wanted to, BUT if a same-sex or interracial couple got married out of state, all states would have to recognize that marriage.

27. Having been in an interracial marriage for 28 years and 2 adult kids later, I had no idea my marriage was not rock solid until all this stirred up. Lol. I’m happy for all.

28. It does not go as far as I would like it to, but it is still progress, and progress is often slow.

29. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy it did, but as an American, I am almost embarrassed that it came to this. The fact that it had to be done to protect people from being under attack from the supreme court is ridiculous.

30. People’s rights>state’s rights> Fed Rights.

31. I believe that personal freedom, and body autonomy, should be an irrevocable human right and I hope it’s a good first step into a future that upholds human rights.

32. As Lizzo says, “it’s about damn time.”

33. The legislative branch creates laws. This the way the system is supposed to work.

34. It does not go far enough. Marriage should be protected at the federal level, and a requirement for states to offer it to any/all couples if the state wants federal funding. Worked for pushing the drinking age to 21, it can work for this.

35. Every adult should be able to marry any other adult that they want or choose to. It makes zero sense that any person should oppose that or try to stand in the way. How does it effect me in any way whatsoever what other people do in their private lives?

36. Fuck yes. And I’m proud to say it too because I was a bigoted asshole in my past and I am glad to see just how far I have come in my immediate reaction to this news. Here’s to the future! 🥂

37. DOMA was bad policy to begin with. Full Faith and Credit (part of our Constitution) is there for a good reason and Congress had no business making exceptions here, even though they can.

    Think about it. What if Congress decided that states didn’t have to recognize the parenthood of people in gay marriages? You could be traveling through a hostile state and have your child taken away from you by child protection services, as if your own child were some random you picked up off the street.

38. If 2 consenting, no related adults want to spend the rest of their lives together who am I to say no?

39. It doesn’t affect me at all. If people don’t like same sex marriage then don’t get one it’s that simple

40. Still confuses me that anyone actually gives a shit about who marries who

41. Randomly thought about marriage equality in general just this morning and wondered why anyone bothered to care so much about what two adults did with their lives? Had no idea about the Act until now so I’m both happy and doubly confused because I could’ve sworn this already happened back in 2015ish.

42. I mean it would have been nice if it had required states to perform all marriages rather than just recognize them if they’re done in other states, but I’ll take what I can get. I feel really relieved living where I live. Our constitution bans gay marriage so it would have been illegal the second Obergefell falls. I might have to have an out of state wedding one day, but I live an hour from PA so it’s really not the end of the world for me.

43. I’m really happy with it. I mean, essentially this was the material discrepancy that you could see in Justice Scalia’s dissent in Obergefell, namely that the genesis of these things belonged to Congress, not the Supreme Court.

44. I’m glad it happened and frustrated that it needed to happen. I say this because of the fact that it also protects interracial marriage, which very few people were making note of.

45. 1000% for it.

46. I just wish it went further than it does.

47. I have conflicting feelings.

    Obviously I’m relieved, but I am pissed that it took women losing their rights to bodily autonomy for the democrats to realize that yes, republicans really will follow through on their threats.

    And I’m pissed that nothing constructive is being done to restore those rights or protect those of us in red states.

    But I remember when Obergefell was announced in ’15, I remember the joy and relief. I remember the despair and pain and uncertainty BEFORE Obergefell and I don’t want to go back to that. So relieved gay marriage has been protected.

    And it sucks that the “before” is where women currently are. The pain and despair and uncertainty.

    So…I have conflicted feelings. I know it’s unfair, but it is what it is.

48. So fun having my marriages up for debate in general. Glad there’s more protection for us now, but my marriage and my family isn’t anyone’s business but my own.

    Tired of my rights being a political debate.

49. This country was secular, why we have religious implementations into government I’ll never understand. This is coming from a catholic too, I don’t want Christian values in this country, not everyone is Christian and it doesn’t represent everyone.

    Also don’t be fooled I also support gay marriage, regardless of the Christianity part. I don’t see it a sin and i believe it to be misconstrued from translation. Also I’m not straight so that’s some self hate if I was against it lol