WASHINGTON, DC — This week, Rep. Pete Aguilar voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404), which will keep same-sex marriages legal if the Supreme Court overturns precedent in the same it way it overturned 50 years of settled law in Roe v. Wade.

“Three weeks ago, an extremist, conservative majority on the US Supreme Court signaled they will attack more of our constitutional rights after overturning Roe v. Wade,” said Rep. Aguilar. “One justice specifically said that they wanted to revisit the court’s decision on Obergefell, the decision that made same-sex marriage a constitutional right. Our vote on the Respect for Marriage Act protects same-sex marriages, and interracial marriages, from radical decisions that may come from the Supreme Court. We cannot let this right be repealed and set our country back even more.”

The Respect for Marriage Act will:

• Federally protect marriage equality,
• Repeal the Defense Against Marriage Act, a discriminatory law that set restrictions on same-sex marriage,
• And provide protections at the state level by forbidding anyone from denying an out-of-state marriage based on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin of the individuals in the marriage.

The Respect for Marriage Act is supported by the ACLU, Center for American Progress, Equality Federation, Family Equality, Freedom for All Americans, GLAD, Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, National Black Justice Coalition, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Women’s Law Center and PFLAG.

Rep. Aguilar serves as Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and is a Member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Committee on House Administration.

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