This list of supporters is currently in formation….
Jennifer C. Pizer, Acting Chief Legal Officer, Lambda Legal
“Our American history includes many shameful chapters, including when states denied loving couples the freedom to marry based on race, and when they did so based on sex. Many states that allowed their own residents to marry freely nonetheless supported other states’ discrimination by enforcing those racist and sexist laws. Lambda Legal fought for more than two decades to win the freedom to marry for same-sex couples because marriage allows couples to celebrate their commitment while securing essential legal protections for their families. But, recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have caused many to worry that their marriages have become insecure. Today, we call on Congress to immediately repeal the unconstitutional ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ and make crystal clear that a marriage solemnized validly anywhere in these United States is valid everywhere in our country without discrimination based on sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. We applaud our champions in both the House and the Senate for acting swiftly with the Respect for Marriage Act to reassure American families that marriage discrimination is and remains unlawful.”
Victoria Kirby York, Deputy Executive Director, National Black Justice Coalition
"The opportunity to marry the person we love has been a moving right for Black people since the colonial period. The color of our skin, race, sex assigned at birth, religion, and more have been used to deny legal equality and access to rights for our relationships and families. It took centuries, but our United States Supreme Court finally got it right in the last sixty years. Unfortunately, the recent overturning of significant judicial precedent in the abortion-related Dobbs decision has put all equality protection-related judicial precedents at risk.
As a Black lesbian, nonbinary Christian woman, living with a dynamic disability, the ability to provide for my wife and young child is tied up in our constitution's promise to protect all of us equally.
My grandmothers' grew up in rural communities in the Jim Crow South where abortion was illegal, women couldn't get a credit card without a man to sign for her, LGBTQ+ people couldn't work in government, interracial and same-sex marriage was illegal, and the school you went to was based on the color of you and your family's skin. For the last century, the U.S. Supreme Court has frequently used our Fourteenth Amendment to demand equality for all of us. Sadly, the Dobbs decision has made us question the court's oath of office and fidelity to the constitution.
We fear that without the President and Congress taking decisive action, all of our children -- and the rest of us -- will come to live in a society that mirrors the one my grandmothers thought America left behind."
Janson Wu, Executive Director, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
“GLAD is hearing from worried spouses, parents and children every day. No one should need to fear their marriage and their family won’t be protected and respected. The Respect for Marriage Act affirms the clarity of marriage protections under federal law. It will provide critical assurance to millions of Americans about the stability of their important family relationships wherever they live, travel or relocate.”
Shannon Minter, Legal Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights (pronouns: he/him)
“Families should have the security of knowing their legal relationships will be respected no matter who they are or where they live. The so-called Defense of Marriage Act was a betrayal of our nation’s commitment to freedom and equality, and it is past time that Congress acted to codify the Supreme Court’s decision striking it down.”
Brian K. Bond, Executive Director of PFLAG National
"PFLAG was founded just two months after the Roe decision became the law of the land. Now, nearly 50 years later, the Dobbs decision has changed the legal landscape for our families in numerous ways, from undermining access to abortion to seeking gender-affirming care. The rights to privacy and bodily autonomy in everything and in all ways are under attack due to an extremist Supreme Court and state legislators working overtime to undermine and undervalue LGBTQ+ people. This includes jeopardizing legally recognized relationships, whether between LGBTQ+ people or between people of different races or ethnicities.
Marriage is a fundamental foundation for family, community, and society. It is not asking for “special” rights when we ask that our LGBTQ+ loved ones be allowed to meet, love, marry, and create family with another person. It is the same thing that every parent wants and hopes for their child, if that is what their child chooses.
Repealing DOMA with passage of the bipartisan and bicameral Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) is important and will help protect our families. PFLAGers everywhere urge its passage, and will continue leading with love so that everyone can expect, access, and enjoy the same benefits in this country."
James Esseks, Director of the ACLU's LGBTQ & HIV Project
"For the last seven years, LGBTQ families across the country have been able to build their lives around their right to marriage equality. The Respect for Marriage Act will go a long way to ensure this right is not threatened by an increasingly radical Supreme Court, but LGBTQ rights are already under attack nationwide. Transgender people especially have had their safety, dignity, and health care threatened by lawmakers across the country, including by members of this Congress. While we welcome the introduction of this measure, members of Congress must also fight like trans lives depend on it because trans lives do."
Shelbi Day, Chief Policy Officer, Family Equality
"We have seen first-hand the importance of marriage equality and how our families are harmed when the responsibilities, commitments, and legal ties that marriage brings are questioned or denied. All families deserve to know that their marriage will be recognized and respected – regardless of where they live or where they travel, which is why we support the Respect for Marriage Act and urge Congress to codify the Supreme Court's decision striking down the so-called Defense of Marriage Act."
Olivia Hunt, Policy Director, National Center for Transgender Equality/NCTE Action Fund
“The Respect for Marriage Act is an important step to help protect the families of LGBTQ Americans, especially in light of Justice Thomas’s concurring opinion in the Dobbs case,” said Olivia Hunt, policy director for the National Center for Transgender Equality. “As some lawmakers attack LGBTQ people, and particularly transgender and nonbinary people, with policies that would deny us healthcare, ban us from sports, and erase us from public life, it is crucial that Congress act swiftly to protect all of our civil rights. Whether we are Black, white or brown, new to the United States or Native, transgender or not, we all want to be able to live our lives openly and as we truly are, and we all want to have our marriages and our families respected and treated fairly by the law."
Sunu P. Chandy, Legal Director, National Women's Law Center
"We are glad to see Congress acting to affirm and help secure our important constitutional rights including for LGBTQ people to marry who we love, and to travel between states without being at risk of losing these core rights that are central to our equality and privacy. Bodily freedom and making choices about our families are all crucial to the lives of women and LGBTQ people, and the National Women's Law Center has fought for these rights for decades, and we will keep fighting for them now."
