The LGBTQ+ advocacy group Out Boulder County issued a statement Tuesday in response to the United States Senate’s passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
The legislation, which would mandate recognition for same-sex marriages in the country if it becomes law, will now return to the House of Representatives for consideration.
Mardi Moore, executive director of Out Boulder County, said her organization applauds the Senate for advancing the legislation, but that it fails to ensure that all states are required to provide marriage licenses to couples.
“While it is an important step to ensure that marriage equality remains the law of the land, it does not go far enough,” Moore said in a statement. “The need for additional federal legislation protecting marriage equality became clear when the Supreme Court showed a willingness to disregard long-established precedent in order to limit the rights of women to make their own healthcare decisions.
“Of course we should not be able to return to a discriminatory system and allow states to disregard marriages legally performed in other states. While this is an important victory the fight to protect marriage equality continues until there is a federal right to marriage that requires all states to not have discriminatory marriage laws.”
The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure the federal government respects all marriages equally. The legislation requires that people are considered married if their union is valid in the state where the marriage was performed; states also must fully recognize legal marriages that were performed in other states.
In a news release, Out Boulder County said its ultimate goal locally is to remove amendment 43 from the Colorado Constitution, even though courts struck it down. The amendment, which defines marriage as a union only between a man and a woman, passed with 56% of the vote in 2006.
“It must be removed from the Colorado Constitution so that a court decision will not be able to reinstate it,” the organization’s news release read. “The effort to remove it will require statewide voter education and turnout and will cost millions of dollars.”
