Pennslyvania Republican Rep. Glenn Thompson's son got married on Friday and his father was there with support. Yet, when given the opportunity to codify the right for his son to be married, he voted it down.
Gawker was the first to reveal the nuptials but NBC News explained that Rep. Thompson's son confirmed he "married the love of [his] life" on Friday evening and that his "father was there." They noted that they wouldn't publish the son's name for his own privacy.
Thompson’s congressional office also confirmed the nuptials were shared with Rep. Thompson.
“Congressman and Mrs. Thompson were thrilled to attend and celebrate their son’s marriage on Friday night as he began this new chapter in his life,” the press secretary said in an email. She noted that they are both “very happy” to welcome their new son-in-law “into their family.” Thompson wasn't happy enough to agree to protect their marriage, however.
The concern about marriage rights and the right for same-sex relationships comes after the court decision for Roe v. Wade in which the Supreme Court ruled that abortion is something that the states should decide. Republican lawmakers also agreed that marriage should be something sent back to the states to decide.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court shouldn't just reconsider Roe, they should look at cases like Griswold v. Connecticut, which deals with legalizing contraception, Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage and Lawrence vs. Texas, which legalized same-sex relationships.
Rep. Thompson's office said last week through his press secretary that the same-sex marriage legislation is “nothing more than an election-year messaging stunt for Democrats in Congress who have failed to address historic inflation and out of control prices at gas pumps and grocery stores."
In reality, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act is a federal law that banned same-sex marriage at the federal level. While Obergefell v. Hodges overturned that law, if the Supreme Court were to eliminate that ruling as they did with Roe, DOMA would be the law of the land again. The bill effectively eliminated DOMA.
