Zola invites senators to back Respect for Marriage Act

Brooke Migdon
·3 min read
2

Story at a glance

  • The online wedding planner and retailer Zola is sending wedding “invitations” to senators that have not indicated whether they will support the Respect for Marriage Act when it comes up for a vote sometime in the coming weeks.

  • Support for marriage equality is at an all-time high among American voters, recent polling shows.

  • The legislation would officially repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and require all states to legally recognize same-sex and interracial unions.

The online wedding planner and retailer Zola is inviting U.S. senators to “the most important wedding event of the season” in a new ad campaign that urges lawmakers to pass legislation that would enshrine marriage equality into federal law.

“This vote is not about cutting cake. Or getting gifts. It’s about what happens after the last guest leaves and the real journey begins,” reads a full-page advertisement resembling a wedding invitation printed in Tuesday’s Washington Post. “It’s about having the right to certainty when so much is unwritten.”

The 50-50 Senate is expected to vote on the Respect for Marriage Act –—federal legislation to safeguard the right of same-sex and interracial couples to marry — sometime in the coming weeks, but it is not clear whether the measure will have enough support from Republicans to advance.

The legislation, which would address a national patchwork of marriage laws by requiring all states to legally recognize same-sex and interracial unions, was passed by House lawmakers in July, with 47 Republicans joining all Democrats in backing the measure.

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The White House has said President Biden will sign the legislation into law if it is passed by Congress.

The Respect for Marriage Act would also officially repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), achieving one of Democrats’ long-sought goals. A section of the 1996 law defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2013, but the remainder of the law is still on the books, although currently unenforceable under the Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

In addition to Tuesday’s invitation-style advertisement, a landing page on Zola’s website answers frequently asked questions about the Respect for Marriage Act and another page directs users to “RSVP” by taking action in support of the legislation.

A physical copy of Tuesday’s invitation will also be mailed to every undecided Senator to “remind them what marriage really means and what’s at stake,” according to Zola. At least four Republican senators have said they will support the bill, which needs 60 votes or more to pass.

“As a company, and as individuals, we will always stand up when love and marriage are on the line,” Shan-Lyn Ma, the company’s co-founder and co-chief executive, told Changing America in an email. “We deeply believe in marriage equality, and also in the power of weddings and marriage to be a great unifier.”

“No two weddings or marriages are ever the same, and in fact we are proud to be the support system for the most diverse generation of couples to choose to marry each other,” Ma said. “We hope that this message will also unify our political leaders to do the right thing.”

Among American voters, support for marriage equality is at an all-time high, with 71 percent of adults in a recent Gallup poll agreeing that same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid. In a July Politico and Morning Consult poll, nearly 60 percent of voters said the right to same-sex marriage should be shielded by federal legislation.

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