Credit: Unsplash

Biden will sign the bill into law in a public ceremony today.

Earlier this month, the United States Senate and House successfully passed the Respect for Marriage Act, a new bill that will enshrine protections for interracial and same-sex marriages throughout the entire United States. This means that, while individual states are not required to authorize such marriages within their borders, they are required to recognize them if authorized anywhere else in the country. The bill also ensures all couples are entitled to federal benefits and protections.

This landmark bill is headed to the desk of United States President Joe Biden, where he will sign it into law in a public ceremony on the White House lawn later today.

“Today, Congress took a critical step to ensure that Americans have the right to marry the person they love,” Biden said in a statement after the bill was passed last week.

“While we are one step closer on our long journey to build a more perfect union,” Biden added, “we must never stop fighting for full equality for LGBTQI+ Americans and all Americans.”

Today, I sign the Respect for Marriage Act into law – a landmark civil rights bill that honors the courage and sacrifice of generations of couples who fought for marriage equality and equal rights.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 13, 2022

Indeed, while the bill is a major step, some have expressed concerns that it does not do as much as it should. “I will say I’m happy that at least something has been done, something that we will have to fall back on should the Supreme Court overturn Obergefell in the future, but this act, I find it curious that it’s called the Respect for Marriage Act because this act does not respect LGBTQ+ community, our marriages, our relationships or our families,” Jim Obergefell, of the Obergefell case that won the right to same-sex marriage, told CNN.