Biden signs Respect for Marriage Act, reflecting his and the country's evolution

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

61% : President Biden signed into law Tuesday a bipartisan bill that codifies same-sex and interracial marriages with a large celebration on the South Lawn of the White House.
57% : It makes it so that other states have to recognize same-sex marriages across state lines and that same-sex couples are entitled to the same federal benefits of any other married couple, like Social Security survivor benefits.
56% : In 2004, just 42% of Americans said they were in support of same-sex marriage, according to Gallup.
53% : The Respect for Marriage Act wouldn't change that, but it requires all states to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and federally recognizes these marriages."
52% : Three days before he went on Meet the Press, Gallup found 50% of Americans approved of same-sex marriage.
50% : In the 1990s, like many other senators, Biden cast a series of votes that hurt the push for gay rights -- from cutting off funding from public schools that were "encouraging or supporting homosexuality as a positive lifestyle alternative" to the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.
49% : That's far from a majority of Republicans, and it's reflective of the fact that rank-and-file Republican voters have lagged in support of same-sex marriage.
49% : In June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in the Obergefell case that same-sex marriage is constitutionally protected by the 14th Amendment.
47% : In 2004, the issue of same-sex marriage was a lightning rod.
47% : This was in an election year and at a time when the country was still split on acceptance of same-sex marriage.
45% : "No, I am not celebrating," Jim Obergefell, of the Obergefell case that won the right to same-sex marriage, said on CNN.
44% : Anti-same-sex marriage amendments were put on various state ballots.
44% : As vice president, Biden got out ahead of President Obama in advocating for same-sex marriage -- on national television.
44% : As NPR has reported:"If the Court were to overturn Obergefell, the legality of same-sex marriages would revert to state law -- and the majority of states would prohibit it.
42% : In the Dobbs decision, which overturned the right to an abortion earlier this year, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court "should reconsider" decisions that legalized same-sex marriage and even protected the rights of married people to have access to contraception.
40% : DOMA defined marriage as between a man and a woman and blocked federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
40% : Then-President George W. Bush backed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and white Christian evangelicals helped Bush win reelection.
36% :That's because, though the bill attempts to buttress key Supreme Court decisions, it does nothing to prevent same-sex marriages from becoming illegal again in states that might oppose them if the Supreme Court decides to overturn Obergefell.
35% : Now, as president, Biden rebuked the Florida law that constrains teachers talking about sexual orientation or gender identity, calling it "hateful" and vowed to "continue to fight for the protections and safety you deserve."

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.