Schumer says he wants to bring gay marriage to Senate floor for a vote after House passage

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday that he wants to bring legislation to protect marriage equality to a vote, after the House passed it on a bipartisan basis.

Every House Democrat and 47 House Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act on Tuesday, which came in direct response to Justice Clarence Thomas’s suggestion that the Supreme Court “reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents” when it overturned Roe v Wade last month.

That included the court’s previous rulings on same-sex marriage, gay sex and contraception. The legislation repeals the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which the court overturned in 2015. The legislation also protects the validity of same-sex and interracial marriages and prohibits denying the “full faith and credit” to any out-of-state marriage based on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin regardless of any state law.

Mr Schumer said on a floor speech on Wednesday that the vote encouraged him.

“I was impressed with how much bipartisan support it got in the House,” he said. Mr Schumer said he had spoken to Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, the first openly lesbian United States Senator, about lobbying Republicans. “I want to bring this bill to the floor and we're working to get the necessary Republican support.”

Democrats only have 50 Senate seats, meaning they would need to get 10 Republicans on board.

-Alex Woodward contributed reporting