WBA Debate Topic: Respect For Marriage Act

October 7, 2022

We’re going to talk about the Respect for Marriage Act. When Roe vs. Wade was overturned, Justice Clarence Thomas referred to other decisions including gay marriage and interracial marriage that had the potential to be overturned. In response to that, Sen. Baldwin and Sen. Collins have proposed bipartisan legislation called the Respect For Marriage Act which makes it the law of the land and protects it from being overturned. How would you vote?

  • About 70% of Americans back same-sex marriage, and growing, according to PRRI, Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
  • In 1996, less than one-third of Americans supported same-sex marriages (Gallup)
  • “The Respect for Marriage Act would simply require the federal government to recognize a marriage if the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed. It would guarantee legal marriages are given full faith and credit, regardless of the couple’s sex, race, ethnicity or national origin. This legislation has earned bipartisan support in Congress because it grants same-sex and interracial couples the certainty that they will continue to enjoy the same equal treatment under federal law as all other married couples.”
  • Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Sen. Susan Collins wrote an OpEd arguing why the Senate needs to come together.