The US Senate will vote this week on a law protecting gay marriage announced Monday its Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, after an agreement reached between elected officials from both sides.
In the United States, same-sex unions have been guaranteed by the Supreme Court since 2015. But after the high court’s historic reversal on abortion, many progressives fear that this right may also be unraveled.
In mid-July, the US House of Representatives passed a law to protect these unions across the country. All Democrats and 47 Republicans had supported the text. But nearly 160 Republicans opposed it.
In the Senate, negotiations had been underway for weeks to ensure the support of at least ten Republicans for the text, necessary for its passage due to qualified majority rules.
A group made up of senators from both parties announced Monday that an agreement had been reached in this regard.
The text is a “necessary step” to grant millions of couples “the freedoms, rights and responsibilities that flow from all other marriages”, argued Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema.
A first procedural vote will be organized on Wednesday on this text, which also protects interracial couples, said Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
The elected official urged the conservative opposition to line up around the bill which he described as “extremely important”.
A large majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, including in the Republican ranks. But the religious right remains mostly opposed to it.
Republican tenor Mitch McConnell, likely to influence many voices in his camp, has not yet indicated whether or not he will vote in favor of the text.