Senator Cynthia Lummis is in hot water with the Wyoming State Republicans after she voted to pass the Respect for Marriage Act.
Lummis joined 11 other Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats to make the legislation into law.
The act repeals and replaces the Defense of Marriage act, originally passed in 1997, and requires the US Federal Government to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial marriage.
Law protects religious beliefs
It also protects religious liberty and provides that no church or religious nonprofit will be forced to solemnize or conduct a marriage ceremony and bars any civil claim or cause of action.
Pastor David Holland, Vice Chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party chastised Lummis saying that the Constitution does not give the federal government authority to define or dictate matters concerning marriage which is the exclusive purview of the States.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment requires all U.S. states to recognize same-sex marriages, but recent discussion in the Court compelled the legislative branch to codify the ruling.
Lummis voted to move the bill to a vote in the Senate and then for final passage of the bill. She then joined in a colloquy with Democrat Senator Kristen Sinema of Arizona to further explain the intent of the bill.
