周二下午，在白宫南草坪举行的仪式上，拜登总统签署了《尊重婚姻法案》，LGBTQ家庭正在庆祝。
该法案通过要求各州承认在其他州进行的合法结合，编纂了对同性和跨种族婚姻的保护。它不要求各州为同性或跨种族夫妇发放结婚证——目前这些婚姻受到最高法院2015年Obergefell诉Hodges和1967年Loving诉Virginia裁决的保护——但是，如果这些裁决中的任何一项被撤销，新法将有效防止已婚同性和跨种族夫妇被剥夺现在赋予他们的民事利益。
这众议院通过了该法案在上周的星期四，以258票对169票的优势参议院通过了该法案经过几个月的谈判，11月下旬以61票对36票的投票结果，将获得两党支持的立法提案送到了总统的办公桌上。
39个众议院共和党人和12个参议院共和党人与民主党一起通过了这项措施。
Kent Love-Ramirez于2007年与丈夫Diego Love-Ramirez结婚，并于2012年再次举行法律仪式，他告诉“早安美国”,他们在过去一年中一直关注该法案在国会的通过，并于周二称赞拜登签署该法案，称其为“快乐”的发展。
这位密歇根州居民补充说:“看到多少共和党当选官员与民主党人联手推进这项工作，令人欣慰。”。“但看到这么多人反对，同样令人沮丧。所以，当然还有工作要做，尽管我们也对我们在社会上看到的事情感到非常放心——我们的家庭正变得越来越被广泛接受——坦率地说，许多当选官员只是需要赶上我们在社区日常生活中已经看到的情况。”
与此同时，Love-Ramirez表示，该法案并不是确保每个人婚姻平等的完整方案。
这位两个孩子的父亲说:“这绝对是一个值得庆祝的时刻，但也不是没有妥协。”“我总是试图澄清，尽管这是一个好的时刻，但这不是最后的游戏，仍然有局限性，对于像我们这样的家庭来说，这不是完全平等的。”
除了为同性和跨种族夫妇制定一些保护措施，《尊重婚姻法》还为反对这些婚姻的宗教团体提供保护，防止他们在拒绝向这些夫妇提供服务或商品的情况下失去免税地位。
Kent Love-Ramirez and Diego Love-Ramirez with their children.
爱的礼遇-拉米雷斯家族
宾夕法尼亚州西北部的贝丝·麦克多诺(Beth McDonough)也称赞了《尊重婚姻法案》本周的通过，同时警告说，她认为还需要做更多的工作来充分保护同性和跨种族夫妇。
麦克多诺在一封电子邮件中告诉《GMA》:“我很高兴我们的国家在这么短的时间内就同性婚姻的公众舆论取得了这么大的进步，我也很高兴联邦政府正在采取措施保护现有的婚姻。”。
“我认为许多人没有意识到，这仍然让那些寻求结婚的LGBTQ+夫妇在他们的国家容易受到歧视，”她补充道。“就我们所取得的成就而言，在保护同性恋者建立家庭的平等权利方面，我们还有很长的路要走。我们的文化仍然渗透着这样一种信念，即婚姻应该有一个非常具体的“正确”方式，对我们来说，重要的是继续推动进步，并使组建家庭的方式多种多样这一事实正常化。”
位于圣彼得堡的全州LGBTQ组织“平等佛罗里达”的执行主任纳丁·史密斯(Nadine Smith)称赞该法案的签署是“有希望的一步”，是“在LGBTQ儿童和父母受到无情攻击的时候，一项重要的立法。”
“我认为今天是重要的一步，我们的家庭应该得到其他人认为理所当然的保护，”史密斯告诉“GMA”
该法案特别承认像史密斯这样的婚姻，他是黑人，与一名白人妇女结婚。
“作为一个跨种族婚姻中的女同性恋者，这非常重要，”她说。
她继续说道，“大多数美国人支持婚姻平等。大多数美国人支持LGBTQ权利，但我认为重要的是，每个人都要认识到国内恐怖分子的这一日益壮大的骨干力量，他们希望让大多数人保持沉默，因为对他们来说，这不是他们生活中最重要的日常问题，并恐吓那些与我们在一起的人，因为这是影响我们日常生活的最重要的问题。”
Love-Ramirez说，对于像他和他丈夫一样还没有结婚的LGBTQ夫妇来说，前面可能还有障碍。
他说:“法案中的妥协，就它[不强制]各州进行同性婚姻而言，对我们来说不一定是一个问题，但我们认识到这是对尚未结婚的人的一个问题，如果最高法院推翻了婚姻平等，如果他们生活在一个不进行同性婚姻的州，他们仍然不得不离开这个州——这是令人震惊的。”
Love-Ramirez说，他将继续为LGBTQ社区的其他人辩护，直到实现婚姻平等的“缓慢前进”。
“这是将我们带到这一步的许多步骤的延续，因为许多倡导和进步将我们带到了这一步，”他补充道。"因此，在走向完全平等的漫长旅程中，这是一个值得庆祝的时刻."
LGBTQ families react after President Biden signs Respect for Marriage Act
LGBTQ families are celebrating after President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act Tuesday afternoon in a ceremony held on the White House South Lawn.
The act codifies protections for same-sex and interracial marriage by mandating that states recognize lawful unions performed in other states. It does not require states to issue marriage licenses for same-sex or interracial couples -- currently those marriages are protected by the Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges and 1967 Loving v. Virginia decisions -- however, the new law would effectively prevent married same-sex and interracial couples from being denied the civil benefits granted to them now, should either of those decisions ever be rolled back.
TheHouse of Representatives passed the billby a margin of 258-169 on Thursday last week, after theSenate pushed the bill throughin late November on a 61-36 vote, following months of negotiation, sending the proposed legislation, which received bipartisan support, to the president's desk.
Thirty-nine House Republicans and 12 Senate Republicans joined Democrats in passing the measure.
Kent Love-Ramirez, who married his husband Diego Love-Ramirez in 2007 and then again in a legal ceremony in 2012, told "Good Morning America" they followed the bill as it moved through Congress over the past year, and on Tuesday applauded Biden's signing of the act, calling it a "happy" development.
"It was reassuring to see how many Republican elected officials aligned with the Democrats to move this forward," the Michigan resident added. "But it was equally discouraging to see how many opposed it. So, there's certainly work to be done although we're also very reassured by what we see happening in society -- that our families are becoming more widely accepted -- and frankly, a lot of elected officials just need to sort of catch up with what we're already seeing in our daily lives in our communities."At the same time, Love-Ramirez said the act isn't a complete package that ensures marriage equality for everyone.
"It's definitely a moment to celebrate but it is not without its compromise," the father of two said. "I always try to make clear that although this is a good moment, it's not the end game, that there are still limitations and it is not full equality for families like ours."
In addition to codifying some protections for same-sex and interracial couples, the Respect for Marriage Act also offers protections for religious groups who oppose those marriages, preventing them losing their tax-exempt status if they refuse services or goods to those couples.
Beth McDonough of Northwest Pennsylvania also praised the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act this week, while cautioning that she felt more still needed to be done to fully protect same-sex and interracial couples.
"I'm thrilled our country has come such a long way in a short amount of time regarding public opinion around same sex marriage, and I'm excited about the federal protections being put in place to protect existing marriages," McDonough told "GMA" in an email.
"I think many people don't realize that this still leaves LGBTQ+ couples who are seeking to get married vulnerable to being discriminated against within their state," she added. "As far as we've come, we still have a long way to go in protecting the equal right of queer people to build families. Our culture is still saturated with the belief that there's a very specific 'right' way marriage should look, and it's important for us to keep pushing progress and normalizing the fact that there are many ways to form a family."
Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ organization based in St. Petersburg, hailed the act's signing as a "hopeful step" and an "important piece of legislation at a time when LGBTQ children and parents are under relentless attack."
"I think today is an important step in reinforcing that our families deserve the same protections that others take for granted," Smith told "GMA."
The act in particular specifically recognizes marriages like Smith's, who is Black and is married to a white woman.
"As a lesbian in an interracial marriage, this is pretty important," she said.
She continued, "The majority of Americans support marriage equality. The majority of Americans support LGBTQ rights, but I think it's important that everybody wake up to this growing cadre of domestic terrorists who wish to silence most people for whom this is not the most important daily issue of their lives and intimidate those with us for whom it is most important issue that affects our lives daily."
Love-Ramirez said that for LGBTQ couples who aren't yet married, like he and his husband are, there were likely still obstacles ahead.
"The compromise in the act, in terms of it [not obligating] states to perform same sex marriages, is not necessarily a concern for us, but we recognize it as a concern for people who are not yet married, who, if the Supreme Court overturns marriage equality, they're still going to have to go out of state if they live in a state that doesn't perform same sex marriages -- and that's appalling," he said.
Love-Ramirez said he will continue advocating for others in the LGBTQ community until this "slow march" toward marriage equality is achieved.
"It's a continuation of many steps that have brought us to this point because a lot of advocacy and advancements led us to this point," he added. "So it's one moment to celebrate on a long journey towards full equality."
