8. The passage of the Respect for Marriage Act. The U.S. Supreme Court
legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015 but the court’s June decision
overturning a right to abortion at the federal level raised concerns that
federal protections for same-sex marriage might be in jeopardy. The Respect
for Marriage Act was passed to address this by guaranteeing federal recognition
of any marriage between two individuals if the union was valid in the state
where it was performed. It won’t force states to issue same-sex marriage
licenses should nationwide marriage equality be overturned by the Supreme
Court but it will extend equality under the law to all same-sex couples, no
matter which state they got married in. It also protects interracial marriages.
