Can marriage equality and religious liberty co-exist? Amanda and Holly discuss the Respect for Marriage Act, including what led to this bill’s creation, the legislative wrangling to get it passed in an election year, and the bevy of amendments full of political posturing. They also discuss the important distinctions between marriage as a civil institution and marriage as a religious institution. Learn more about the current state of conflicts over LGBTQ rights and religious objections to same-sex marriage and what this means to those conversations.

SHOW NOTES: Segment 1 (starting at 00:55): What is in the Respect for Marriage Act?

Read the text of the Respect for Marriage Act and the amendment passed by the U.S. Senate at this link.

Segment 2 (starting at 09:56): Why does this bill exist, and how did it make its way through the Senate? 

Holly and Amanda discussed this article by Liz Goodwin in The Washington Post: How a bipartisan group of senators got same-sex marriage protections passed

Read Amanda’s response to the compromise that paved the way for the Respect for Marriage Act in this article by Kelsey Dallas for Deseret News:How faith leaders reacted to Senate passage of same-sex marriage protections

Segment 3 (starting at 19:09): An extreme spectrum of reactions to the bill

Amanda and Holly mentioned this article by Tad Walch for Deseret News: Why Latter-day Saints support the amended Respect for Marriage Act

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