- A Republican lawmaker attended his son’s same-sex wedding three days after voting against same-sex marriage.
- Congressman Glenn Thompson was one of 157 Republicans who voted against federal protections for the act.
- A spokesperson for the MP told Insider that Thompson was “thrilled” to attend his son’s wedding.
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Republican Rep. Glenn Thompson on Tuesday joined 156 of his GOP colleagues in voting against the Respect for Marriage Act, which, if passed in the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, would codify same-sex marriage into law.
Then, three days later, the Pennsylvania lawmaker attended his gay son’s same-sex wedding.
The congressman’s son confirmed to NBC News this week that his father was present when he “married the love of [his] life” on Friday. Insider is not releasing the name of the groom, who is not a public figure.
A spokesperson for the Thompsons told Insider that the Thompsons are “very happy” to welcome their new son-in-law to their family.
“Congressman and Mrs. Thompson were thrilled to attend and celebrate their son’s marriage Friday night as he begins this new chapter in his life,” said press secretary Madison Stone.
But just days before Thompson was to “celebrate” his son’s marriage, his press secretary told the local Center Daily Times that the Respect for Marriage Act was “nothing more than an election-year messaging ploy for Democrats in Congress who failed to keep up with historic inflation and out-of-control prices at gas stations and grocery stores.”
Gawker was the first to report Thompson’s son’s nuptials in an article Thursday, published before the actual nuptials.
The House of Representatives last week voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act in a bipartisan vote, with 47 Republicans joining all 220 Democrats in favor of the legislation.
The bill now heads to the evenly divided Senate, where at least 10 Republicans must join all 50 Democrats for the bill to pass. Five GOP senators have already expressed a desire to support the legislation.
If the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, it would formally repeal the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Courts later struck down that definition, but the original law remained on the books. The Respect for Marriage Act would prohibit any state actor from “failing to give full effect to marriage outside the state” on the basis of sex, race, sex, or national origin.
Democrats quickly began calling for codification of same-sex marriage protections after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month in a decision that struck down federal abortion rights. Although Justice Samuel Alito’s majority ruled that the case should not affect other rights, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion suggesting the court should “revisit” some important rulings, including the right to same-sex marriage.
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