Senate to vote on same-sex marriage in coming weeks

A bipartisan group of senators is working to round up the ten GOP votes needed to overcome a filibuster and get the legislation through the 50-50 Senate.

From KING-5 TV News, NBC Seattle:

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Wednesday [Sept. 7] that the Senate will vote on legislation to protect same-sex marriage “in the coming weeks” as a bipartisan group backing the bill negotiates changes to gain more Republican support.

The vote, expected by the end of the month, comes as Democrats and a small group of Republicans are moving to safeguard same-sex marriage following the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and the federal right to an abortion. Lawmakers fear the court’s ruling, and a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas, indicate that an earlier high court decision protecting same-sex marriage could come under threat.

=====

The Senate push for the historic vote — and the openness by some Republicans to back it in an election year — reflects a seismic shift on the issue since the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision legalizing gay marriage nationwide. Some 70% of U.S. adults in a June Gallup poll said same-sex unions should be valid under the law.

The bill protecting same-sex marriage cleared the House in a July vote with the support of 47 Republicans – a larger than expected number that gave the measure a boost in the Senate.

To win over more Senate Republicans, negotiators are planning to introduce amendments aimed at addressing concerns from some about “religious liberty” – the rights of religious institutions or religious business owners to oppose same-sex marriage, for example. Supporters say such religious liberty is already enshrined in law, but new language would simply make that clear.

Another proposed tweak to the bill would make clear that a marriage is between two people, an effort to ward off some far-right criticism that the legislation could endorse polygamy.