Biden calls Respect for Marriage Act a 'vital step toward equality'
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Before signing into law on Tuesday the Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies same-sex and interracial marriage, President Biden said the legislation will help create “a nation where decency, dignity and love are recognized, honored and protected.”
Video Transcript
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JOE BIDEN: Today's a good day--
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--a day America takes a vital step toward equality, toward liberty and justice, not just for some but for everyone-- everyone-- toward creating a nation where decency, dignity, and love are recognized, honored, and protected.
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Today, I signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law.
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Deciding whether to marry, who to marry, is one of the most profound decisions a person can make. And as I've said before and some of you might remember on a certain TV show 10 years ago-- [CHUCKLING]-- I got in trouble. [INAUDIBLE]. Marriage-- I mean this from the bottom of my heart-- marriage is a simple proposition-- who do you love, and will you be loyal to that person you love? It's not more complicated than that. And the law recognized that everyone should have the right to answer those questions for themselves without the government interference.
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It also secures the federal rights protections that come with marriage, like when your loved one gets sick and you've legally recognized as a next of kin. For most of our nation's history, we denied interracial couples and same sex couples from these protections. We failed. We failed to treat them with an equal dignity and respect. And now the law requires that interracial marriage and same sex marriage must be recognized as legal in every state in the nation.
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