Congressman Slams Marriage Equality Opposition: Be More Concerned About GOP Accusations of Cocaine-Fueled Orgies Than Morality of My Marriage
The U.S. House of Representatives debate the Respect for Marriage Act ahead of a vote to likely pass the bill, which would codify same-sex marriage and other protections like those for interracial marriage.
Republicans, like Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) stood to speak against the legislation, while members of the House LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus joined other Democrats like Speaker Nancy Pelosi to speak on behalf of the legislation.
Jordan argued the bill was “unnecessary” and “simply the latest installment of the Democrats’ campaign to delegitimize and attempt to intimidate the United States Supreme Court.”
Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), chair of the Equality Caucus, took aim at Jordan’s remark and said, “If it’s not necessary, then vote for it … don’t hide behind that to justify your refusal to vote for marriage equality.”
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) offered one of the best zingers during the debate, raising outgoing Rep. Madison Cawthorne’s odd allegations earlier in the year that he had been invited to do cocaine and attend orgies while in D.C.
“My friend from Ohio said this bill is unnecessary. This bill is very necessary because the extremist packed Supreme Court recently took away a half a century of law on Roe,” began Pocan in his remarks, referencing the rollback of abortion access in the U.S.
“And in that decision, Justice Clarence Thomas said they should revisit it. On marriage equality, we have people in this House and in the Senate like Senator Ted Cruz, who’ve said the exact same thing,” he continued, noting those on the right who had called to overturn the Supreme Court decision guaranteeing same-sex marriage across the U.S.
“Here’s what I want. I want to make sure that my husband, Phil, can visit me in the hospital. Should I have to go back again? Like when I had a triple bypass a few years ago,” he continued, adding:
I want to make sure my husband has my earned benefits for retirement and Social Security. I want to make sure that my husband is taken care of. Just like your spouses are taken care of.
“If I was the entity on the other side of the aisle, I’d be more concerned when my own members accused it of having cocaine-fueled orgies and worrying about the morality of my marriage,” Pocan concluded.
Pelosi also raised the specter of hypocrisy in her remarks, focusing on past efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA), which was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 and defined marriage as being the union of a man and a woman. The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal DOMA.
“Was 13 years ago, Chairman Nadler, along with then-Representative now-Senator Tammy Baldwin, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and others introduced a bill by the same name to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act,” Pelosi said, adding:
Defense of Marriage, proposed by somebody who’d been married three times. They don’t know which marriage he was defending. And today, we will finally achieve that long-held goal.
“By the way, I don’t care how many times somebody is married, I care about how they try to impose their hypocrisy on others,” Pelosi concluded, taking aim at former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) whose affair while married to his second wife became D.C. gossip in the late 90s.
Pelosi: “The Defense of Marriage Act. Defense of marriage? Proposed by somebody who had been married three times. We don’t know which marriage he was defending.” pic.twitter.com/p2Ef5ZxoSi
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 19, 2022
Watch the full clip above via C-SPAN
