The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal DOMA and afford federal protections to legally-married same-sex married couples, like those in New York state and elsewhere, that male and female couples already enjoy. Since Obama’s statement Wednesday, the bill has picked up new co-sponsors and Democratic leaders, like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), have said they would support legalizing same-sex marriage…
The House version of the bill now has 144 co-sponsors while the Senate version has 32. There is only one GOP supporter so far — Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).
Advocates admit that it’s not probable the bill will pass Congress this year with Republicans in control of the House. Yet the wall-to-wall media coverage since Obama’s statement has begun to force once-silent Democrats to step up and share their position on same-sex marriage, which could swell the ranks of same-sex marriage supporters and lock down votes for the bill in a future Congress.
