Biden signs same-sex marriage protections into law
US President Joe Biden signed into law a bill granting federal protections to same-sex marriage, with a large crowd of guests gathered at the White House to celebrate the legislative milestone.
Biden -- who as vice president took a public stand in favor of same-sex unions well before they became legal throughout the United States in a 2015 Supreme Court decision -- touted the landmark law as a rights victory.
The legislation's final adoption by Congress last week marked a rare show of bipartisanship in deeply divided Washington.
"America takes a vital step toward equality, for liberty and justice, not just for some, but for everyone," he said during the signing ceremony.
"Love is love. Right is right. Justice is justice," he said.
“For most of our nation’s history, we denied interracial couples and same sex couples from these protections,” Biden said.
“It failed to treat them with equal dignity and respect. And now, this law requires an interracial marriage and same-sex marriage must be recognized as legal in every state in the nation.”
Public acceptance has grown dramatically in recent decades, with polls now showing a strong majority of Americans supporting same-sex marriage.
The new legislation, known as the Respect for Marriage Act, does not mandate states to legalize same-sex marriage but does require them to recognize a marriage so long as it was valid in the state where it was performed.
