Jan 04, 2023
President Signs ‘Respect for Marriage Act’
The President signed the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) on December 13, 2022. The Act defines marriage to include same-sex couples under a federal statute. The Act also repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA defined a spouse only as a person of the opposite sex. The new Act also requires states and the federal government to recognize and ‘give full faith and credit’ to same-sex and interracial marriages conducted in other states.
Click here to see the entire Act.
Below is a summary of the Act explaining more detail.
Public Law No: 117-228 (12/13/2022)
H.R. 8404 - Respect for Marriage Act
This act provides statutory authority for same-sex and interracial marriages.
Specifically, the act replaces provisions that define, for purposes of federal law, marriage as between a man and a woman and spouse as a person of the opposite sex with provisions that recognize any marriage between two individuals that is valid under state law. (The Supreme Court held that the current provisions were unconstitutional in United States v. Windsor in 2013.)
The act also replaces provisions that do not require states to recognize same-sex marriages from other states with provisions that prohibit the denial of full faith and credit or any right or claim relating to out-of-state marriages on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. (The Supreme Court held that state laws barring same-sex marriages were unconstitutional in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015; the Court held that state laws barring interracial marriages were unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia in 1967.) The act allows the Department of Justice to bring a civil action and establishes a private right of action for violations.
The act does not
- Affect religious liberties or conscience protections that are available under the Constitution or federal law,
- Require religious organizations to provide goods or services to formally recognize or celebrate a marriage,
- Affect any employer sponsored benefits or employee rights that do not arise from a marriage, or
- Recognize under federal law any marriage between more than two individuals.
