When the Supreme Court gutted Roe v. Wade in 2022, marriage equality advocates saw the writing on the wall. If the Court could dismantle a half-century of reproductive rights, no precedent was truly safe—not even Obergefell v. Hodges.
Congress moved quickly to pass the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA), and on paper, it looked like a victory: federal law now requires states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed elsewhere in the country. It was widely hailed as “marriage equality insurance.”
But here’s the part you don’t see in the headlines: the RMA doesn’t actually guarantee the right to marry in your home state. If Obergefell is overturned, states hostile to LGBTQ+ rights could immediately ban same-sex marriages within their borders. Couples would still be able to marry in more progressive states and have their unions recognized federally—but they’d be forced to cross state lines to exercise a fundamental right.
This isn’t equality—it’s geography-based gatekeeping. It’s the legal equivalent of saying, “Sure, you can marry—just not here.” And that’s exactly the kind of loophole culture-war politicians love to exploit.
Worse, the RMA does nothing to stop the parallel attacks already brewing in state legislatures. It doesn’t prevent discriminatory adoption laws, religious-exemption policies, or efforts to roll back spousal benefits. In other words, it protects the existence of marriage paperwork, but not the lived experience of equal marriage.
The Respect for Marriage Act was necessary. It was also a compromise born out of fear that the Court might strike again. And like most compromises with bigotry, it leaves the people most affected standing on fragile ground.
We can celebrate the RMA for what it is—but we can’t afford to pretend it’s a bulletproof shield. It’s a safety net. And safety nets are meant for falls, not for holding the line against a coordinated push to strip away rights.
Next in the series: Mapping the Threat: Which States Are Poised to Ban Equality First? — a closer look at the statehouses already sharpening their knives for a post-Obergefell America.
The Humane Herald 