SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It was a historical moment in the house as legislators passed the Respect for Marriage Act. The bill codifies federal protections for same sex and interracial marriages.
Dec. 13, President Joe Biden signed the bill to protect same-sex and interracial unions in all states. As the president signed the bill, survivors of the Club Q and Pulse nightclub shootings were standing at his side.
“I think having this legislation which addresses both and enshrined both into federal law, it's got to be a big sigh of relief, not just for LGBTQ+ people, but for people across the nation as a whole,” said Alexis Sanchez, director of advocacy and training at the Sacramento LGBT Community Center
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, for the first time ever, the number of same-sex couples living in the same home in the U.S. surpassed one million. Roughly 710,000 of the same-sex couple households were married and about 500,000 were unmarried.
ABC10 asked Sanchez what the newly signed act means for the community.
“There are people in other states that aren't able to access some of the same services, some of the same goods, some of the same things such as marriage, who now with this federal level protection will be able to access it, regardless of what state they live in,” said Sanchez.
According to a polling, more than 70% of Americans support same-sex marriage.
Sanchez told ABC10 a lot of same-sex couples were in really difficult situations, such as dealing with end-of-life care decisions. She says, when the community looks at LGBT+ marriage, there is historical precedent for the importance of marriage and for the community to look back to the HIV-Aids epidemic.
Watch more from ABC10: How California can still ban same-sex marriage
