Following the President Joe Biden signing the landmark Respect for Marriage Act, the Los Angeles LGBT Center issued the following statement:
Today, the fight for marriage equality has witnessed a historic moment: the President of the United States has signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act. This Act not only repeals the hugely discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, but it also affirms that LGBTQ+ marriages are entitled to all the federal benefits and protections afforded to married couples, and requires states to recognize marriages from other states.
“While today is a historic day, we must not forget why we were brought to this moment. The intentional erosion of abortion rights by the Supreme Court was a warning that our communities cannot depend on the court system’s interpretation of our equality, and that we must codify our constitutional rights into law,” said Joe Hollendoner, CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “Associate Justice Clarence Thomas himself linked the rollback of protections for abortion access to a continued rollback of our freedoms to have sex and be married. The Supreme Court is threatening to drag our rights into dangerous territory.”
Today’s decision would not be possible without the long lineage of marriage equality advocates, including those from the Center, who have fought tirelessly for our movement. While we take the day to celebrate, tomorrow brings another day of fighting in the trenches of state legislatures. Our rights are being attacked almost daily, via hundreds of pieces of legislation in state houses that aim to criminalize transgender people, erase us from history books, and even force some of us back into the closet. We must stand together and protect the most vulnerable among us. Years after the fight for marriage equality reached its fateful Supreme Court decision, it is clearer than ever that the right to marry was not the be-all and end-all of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. In many ways, it was another chapter in a much broader struggle for liberation that continues to reflect the full breadth of our diverse community.
While marriage is a fundamental right for queer and transgender people, the US Senate must also pass the Equality Act. This critical piece of legislation would add federal protections for employment, housing, public accommodations, and many other areas of life.
Visit lalgbtcenter.org/resist to tell your Senators to support the Equality Act now!
