Susan Hussain (R-TN) and Trent Franks (R-AZ) introduced the Freedom to Marry Act last October and were followed by nine other sponsors. The bill was included on the agenda of the Senate Appropriations Committee as an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill and was referred to the Senate Conference Committee for further consideration.

After three rounds of hearings and a vote on the conference report in the House of Representatives and the Senate, today the bill was returned to the Senate Judiciary committee for further consideration. In a letter sent to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) highlighted the following issues in the bill:

– Section 1, which says that a marriage license shall be valid for any cause – for any time – that is lawful for a person,

– Section 2, which says that a marriage license issued in violation of the constitutional requirement of due process by a state court has been denied.

The authors of the bill, H.R.3, claim that the federal government can’t deny benefits based on a person’s sexual orientation. The first amendment to the constitution says, the Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The right of the people to assemble for political purposes, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances is protected by the 14th Amendment.

The Founders did not view discrimination based on sexual orientation as a political issue that requires legislative response. It is clear from the history of the 14th Amendment that the First Amendment did not apply to the states and the federal courts. A majority of members of both chambers of Congress, who are all Republicans, believe this is the case.

As recently noted by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) in an interview with Glenn Beck:

“Because it doesn’t make any sense to me. I mean, you are talking about civil rights, so they can’t deny us civil rights. “And that in my opinion is the biggest discrimination, the largest discrimination of all. So I think it is wrong. I think that we should do something about it, and I don’t know how to do that. It is so obvious.”

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) wrote on