Idaho US senators vote against bill to protect same-sex marriage nationally
The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to advance a bill that would protect same-sex marriages nationally, overcoming a majority of Republicans who opposed it — including Idaho’s two senators.
The preliminary vote, a procedural step that broke the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster, passed by a 62-37 tally. A dozen of the Senate’s 50 Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in support of the Respect for Marriage Act.
Fresh off voters reelecting him to his fifth term and maintaining a campaign pledge, Sen. Mike Crapo, 71, voted against the bill.
“I will not support the legislation that is being proposed in the Senate right now,” Crapo said at a debate last month in Boise. “What it does is require every single state to agree with whatever any other state decides is a marriage. And that … is something that the states under our Constitution have the right to determine.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Jim Risch last month declined to commit to a public stance on the same-sex marriage bill in response to an Idaho Statesman inquiry. But on his Senate website, Risch, 79, stated that he would support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as between one man and one woman.
On Wednesday, Risch also voted against the bipartisan backed bill. He told the Statesman by email on Thursday that his beliefs conform to those of Idaho voters, who in 2006 approved an amendment to the state constitution with the same interpretation of marriage.
“Idaho has a constitutional amendment on the books defining marriage as its voters determined, and that is the standard I support,” Risch said. “The federal government has no business attempting to direct our views on this matter.”
He also voiced concerns over various religious liberty protections within the text of the bill for faith-based groups and schools that may disagree with the premise of the proposed law.
But today, Idaho does recognize same-sex marriages as legal, despite the state’s 2006 constitution amendment, which voters passed with more than 63% support. A federal district court judge in Idaho struck down the amendment in 2014 for violating the guarantees of equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.
A year later, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision issued a ruling that guaranteed recognition of same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
Idaho support for same-sex marriage appears to rise
Since that time, Idahoans also appear to have come around in their approval of same-sex marriage. Nearly half of the 550 participants across the state in a Statesman/SurveyUSA public opinion poll conducted last month believed people of the same gender should be legally allowed to marry, now a decade and a half since they almost two-thirds voted for the constitutional ban. The survey had a confidence rating of about +/- 5% points.
In an unexpected move, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Monday that it supports passage of the proposed law. Idaho counts the second-largest percentage of the population that identifies as members of the church.
The bill was introduced in the U.S. House this summer after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned legal precedent guaranteeing an individual’s right to an abortion throughout the nation. In an opinion on the decision, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said that the court should reconsider other past court decisions, including same-sex marriage among them.
“We have a duty to ‘correct the error’ in those precedents,” Thomas wrote.
The House passed the bill in July with bipartisan support. Idaho’s two congressmen, both Republicans, split their votes, with Rep. Mike Simpson supporting it, while Rep. Russ Fulcher and opposing it.
The Respect for Marriage Act could receive a final vote as early as Thursday night, or at least by the end of this month. Democratic President Joe Biden has committed to signing it into law if it arrives to his desk.
This story was originally published November 17, 2022 at 3:43 PM.
