MADISON, Wis. — Madison LGBTQ leaders are celebrating the Senate’s passage of the Respect for Marriage Act Tuesday, but some caution the bill doesn’t go far enough to protect marriage rights.
The bipartisan bill, authored by Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin among others, aims to protect same-sex and interracial marriages in the event the U.S. Supreme Court overturns previous decisions that legalized them.
It requires that all states recognize valid existing marriages regardless of sex, race, ethnicity or national origin, but does not require that states issue marriage licenses to same-sex or interracial couples.
“In a way, it doesn’t go nearly far enough because it doesn’t require states to conduct marriages, it really only recognizes those that have already been done,” said the Rev. Tim Schaefer, the first openly gay pastor at First Baptist Church in Madison.
Other critics of the bill cite a later amendment specifying that religious non-profit organizations would not be required to provide marriage services to same-sex couples, an addition made to gather the bipartisan support the bill needed to overcome a filibuster in the Senate.
“There are religious organizations that do not support gay marriage,” said Steve Starkey, executive director at OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center in Madison. “This law kind of allows them to do that, which is unfortunate, but it is kind of a compromise.”
Schaefer says he’s okay with the religious exemption.
“I think it is fair and I think it’s reasonable, with the long tradition of separation of church and state, to say to other congregations that if that is not your interpretation of scripture, if your interpretation of scripture is different, then you can be exempt from performing marriages,” he said.
Despite the bill’s issues, both leaders say they’re encouraged by the bipartisan support.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Schaefer. “On the one hand, it was sort of rare and kind of refreshing to see this be really a bipartisan effort. That is very promising.”
“I think the acceptance of gay marriage is much higher than it was in the past,” said Starkey. “The fact that this was a bipartisan vote is good news, that there’s that kind of support across the aisles.”
However, they both also agree that there’s still plenty of work to be done.
“There’s still a lot of work to do around LGBTQ rights, including marriage equality,” said Schaefer. “I feel like any time there’s a little bit of progress, there’s almost always an immediate backlash and that’s what I’m a little bit nervous about now with the passage of this.”
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