Jack Guan

Journal article

The Respect for Marriage Act (H.R.8404) is a landmark 2022 law that codified federal and interstate recognition of racial intermarriage and same-sex marriage. This paper asks why, despite previous iterations of the Respect for Marriage Act failing, marriage equality achieved success in 2022. With a focus on same-sex marriage, I review key policies in American history. I then move to discuss the premise of the Respect for Marriage Act itself. I then discuss the premise of the law itself. I argue that there were three key factors driving the law’s success: the Supreme Court, interest groups, and electoral politics. First, I argue that the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson (2022) decision overturning abortion protections created urgency to codify interracial and same-sex marriage as it challenged the longstanding doctrine of stare decisis. Second, I argue that the broad coalition of interest groups supporting the law helped ground support for it from a variety of angles. Third, I argue that Republican members of Congress in competitive districts saw this law as an opportunity to take a policy position ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Together, they created the unlikely coalition in an otherwise polarized political environment to pass the Respect for Marriage Act.