Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) voted in support of H.R. 8404, the Respect for Marriage Act, to protect marriage equality for same-sex and interracial marriages.

“The Supreme Court’s recent departure from judicial precedent and Justice Thomas’s concurrence in Dobbs ­has left many families worried about their future,” said Rep. McEachin (VA-04). “This far-right Supreme Court threatens constitutional rights that millions of Americans currently enjoy. We saw it happen with reproductive health care, and now Justice Thomas has called into question access to contraception, marriage equality, and the legality of same-sex relations. We will not stand idly by why these rights are undermined.”

Rep. McEachin, a proud member of the LGBT Equality Caucus, is an original cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act. He has long advocated for equal protections for the LGBTQ+ community and continues those efforts with the Respect for Marriage Act, which will:

• Repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. Although this law was rendered inert by the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decisions, it remains on the books. Enacting the Respect for Marriage Act would finally erase the discriminatory law from the U.S. code.
• Protect marriage equality for federal purposes by ensuring that for federal law purposes people are considered married if the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed.
• Provide additional protections at the state level by prohibiting any person acting under color of state law from denying full faith and credit to an out of state marriage based on the sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin of the people in the marriage.

“I am proud to cosponsor and help pass the Respect for Marriage Act to codify marriage equality into federal law and defend the rights of the LGBTQ+ community,” continued Rep. McEachin (VA-04). “Today, we took an important step in defending the many families and children who rely on the constitutional right to marriage equality. I urge the Senate to move this legislation forward expeditiously to ensure it remains the law of the land.”

Read a summary of H.R. 8404 here.

Editor's Note: This bill, should it become law, would not just protect same sex marriage. According to the summary, H. R. 804 would also protect interracial marriages, as Loving v. Virginia would also likely be tested, "...although Justice Thomas did not mention the right to interracial marriage, that right relies on the same constitutional doctrines as the right to same-sex marriage and, therefore, could be vulnerable to a legal challenge."