Rep. Sharice Davids is only Kansan in Congress to vote for gay and interracial marriage bill

Congress has sent a bill protecting gay and interracial marriage to President Joe Biden, and only one Kansan voted for it.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Roeland Park, was the only member of the Kansas congressional delegation to vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Davids was one of many co-sponsors of the legislation.

She and other supporters of the legislation said they were inspired by to act after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson that overturned federal abortion protections in Roe v. Wade.

"After the Dobbs decision, people across Kansas and the entire country felt fear and anxiety as many of our individual freedoms were called into question or outright stripped away," said Davids, who is lesbian and Native American, said in a statement. "That includes marriage equality for same-sex couples, which was explicitly threatened by Justice (Clarence) Thomas. I'm proud to have introduced legislation that will help lessen that fear and provide stability to so many families, and I applaud the bipartisan group of lawmakers who joined me to stand up for our rights."

In the Dobbs case, Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion that the legal reasoning used to overturn Roe means the high court "should reconsider" similar landmark rulings protecting contraception, same-sex marriage and sex by same-sex couples. Thomas, who is a Black man married to a white woman, did not mention a similar case protecting interracial marriage.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the Dobbs decision did not "threaten" those precedents.

More:SCOTUS overturning Roe v. Wade renews pressure on Kansas same-sex marriage ban, sodomy law

All Democrats voted for the bill, as did 39 Republicans in the U.S. House. The three Kansas Republicans voted against it.

"Same-sex marriage is already the law of the land," U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, R-Topeka, said in a statement. "The Democrats' Respect for Marriage Act raises serious concerns for religious liberty — paving the way for religious institutions and faith-based organizations to lose their tax-exempt status and be sued for their sincerely held beliefs. Religious freedom is a bedrock principle that I will always defend."

Congressional office spokespeople for U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Salina, and U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, R-Wichita, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Respect for Marriage Act guarantees federal recognition of marriages — and requires states to accept the legitimacy of marriages in other states — between two people as long as the marriage was valid in the state where the couple was married. The bill does not require states to issue a marriage license contrary to that state's own laws.

More:House passes bill to protect same-sex marriage, measure now goes to Biden - live updates

Kansas senators voted against bill as Republicans helped break filibuster

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Manhattan, and U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, previously voted against it. The bill overcame the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster with the help of a dozen Republicans.

When it passed the Senate last month, both senators from Kansas objected to the bill's handling of religious freedom issues.

More:Both Kansas senators vote no, as U.S. Senate defeats filibuster on gay marriage bill

"While gay marriage is already the law of the land, this bill goes far beyond making it federal statute by attacking our religious freedoms and threatening to take away religious institutions' tax exempt status," Marshall said in a statement.

Moran echoed that sentiment.

"Americans should be treated equally and with dignity and respect," Moran said in a statement. "Knowing there are protections under multiple Supreme Court rulings for same-sex marriage, there needs to be greater protections for religious freedoms before I will support the legislation."

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas US Rep Sharice Davids, a lesbian, helped pass gay marriage bill