Mid-Michigan reacts to Respect for Marriage Act

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - A new law giving same-sex and interracial couples new federal protections is the law of the land.

President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law Tuesday. The new law will make sure marriage licenses are honored in all 50 states.

The right to marry your true love is an issue near and dear to Paige Sweet and Alyssa Schams’s hearts.

“We’ve been dating for nine months, have known each other for almost three years and I’d say we’re pretty happy,” said Paige Sweet.

The Respect for Marriage Act will allow people to get marriage tax benefits and be allowed in hospital rooms with their spouses.

“That gives us opportunities really if we do get married one day for where we can go get married and not just benefits for us being a couple and saying we’re married,” said Sweet.

A 2004 Michigan proposal ruled that marriage was strictly between a man and a woman, but that ban was overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which declared all states must allow same-sex marriages.

Justice Clarence Thomas continues to be an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage writing in his July abortion decision that “The decisions on gay marriage and contraception should be revisited.”

“I love being in a same-sex relationship, I love my girlfriend,” said Alyssa Schams.

The Respect for Marriage Act does not require states to legalize same-sex marriage in the event the Obergefell v. Hodges decision is overturned.

The Respect for Marriage Act passed congress with bipartisan support - 39 Republicans in the U.S House and 12 Republicans in the U.S Senate joined Democrats in supporting the new law.

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