Respect for Marriage Act gains three new cosponsors

By Adam Polaski
May 16, 2012 at 10:30 am

This week, two new members of the U.S. House of Representatives and one new senator signed on as cosponsors of the Respect for Marriage Act, the bill that would overturn the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. In the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Donna Christensen, the U.S. Virgin Islands delegate to Congress, and Congressman Norm Dicks (WA-6), signed on, and in the Senate, Senator Jack Reed (RI) followed through with his support from last week by officially becoming a cosponsor. 

The additional cosponsors bring the total to 144 cosponsors in the House and 32 in the Senate.

Sen. Reed's support means that all of Rhode Island's congressional delegation are now signed on as cosponsors, and Dicks' cosponsorship means that all of the Democrats in Washington state in the House and Senate have signed on. 

Overturning the Defense of Marriage Act is an integral part of Freedom to Marry's three-track Roadmap to Victory, which also includes winning marriage in more states and increasing majority support for marriage across the country. 

We thank Congresswoman Christensen, Congressman Dicks, and Senator Reed for their commitment to ending federal marriage discrimination. We look forward to working with all three - as well as the 173 other cosponsors - to move the Respect for Marriage Act forward.