On November 29, the Senate passed legislation known as the Respect for Marriage Act in a bipartisan vote of 61–36, nine days after a mass shooting at an LGBTQ club in Colorado and almost exactly five months since the Dobbs decision called into question other decisions from the court, including Obergefell. All of the Democrats in the Senate were joined by Republican senators Roy Blunt of Missouri; Richard M. Burr and Thom Tillis, both of North Carolina; Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia; Ms. Collins; Joni Ernst of Iowa; Ms. Lummis; Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both of Alaska; Rob Portman of Ohio; Mitt Romney of Utah; and Todd Young of Indiana, according to the New York Times. These same Republican senators helped the act bypass the filibuster on November 16.

The bill then easily passed the House, where 39 Republicans joined all of the Democrats, and was signed by President Biden on December 13, 2022. According to the New York Times, “In an elaborate signing ceremony on the South Lawn, complete with musical performances from Cyndi Lauper and Sam Smith, Mr. Biden told thousands of supporters and lawmakers that the new law represents a rare moment of bipartisanship when Democrats and Republicans came together. ‘My fellow Americans, the road to this moment has been long, but those who believe in equality and justice, you never gave up,’ Mr. Biden told the crowd, which White House officials later said had 5,300 people, before signing the bill to loud cheers. He added: ‘We got it done. We’re going to continue the work ahead. I promise you.’”

The Respect for Marriage Act officially repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, an act that denied federal benefits to same-sex couples. According to the New York Times, “It prohibits states from denying the validity of an out-of-state marriage based on sex, race, or ethnicity. But in a condition that Republican backers insisted upon, it guarantees that religious organizations would not be required to provide any goods or services for the celebration of any marriage, and could not lose tax-exempt status or other benefits for refusing to recognize same-sex unions.” It also doesn’t require that states themselves allow the marriages, just that those that are already married or who are married out of state will be recognized as such both by the federal government and by all states, regardless of whether they individually allow the marriages to be performed in them.

What is most surprising and encouraging about the RFMA vote is that it was supported by some Republicans, many of whom are “deeply conservative and libertarian-leaning ones,” according to the New York Times. Mitt Romney, R from Utah, was quoted by CNN as saying, “This legislation provides certainty to many LGBTQ Americans, and it signals that Congress—and I—esteem and love all of our fellow Americans equally.”

Chuck Schumer, Democrat and Senate Majority Leader, for his part, was emotional and “audibly choked back tears on the Senate floor as he described how his daughter, who is married to a woman and expecting a baby with her wife, had lived in fear that their union could be reversed,” according to the New York Times. He wore the same purple tie on the day it passed the Senate that he wore at his daughter’s wedding.