Some Republicans Kept The House Shut Down Over Gay Marriage
Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer’s support for legalizing gay marriage was a major reason his Tuesday tenure as the GOP’s speaker-designate lasted only four hours, a sign of how the extremism of the Republican Party is directly contributing to its now three-week-long struggle to elect a speaker. Emmer voted for the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022, which turned the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage into national law. His vote, which came after years of opposing gay marriage, put him in line with the overwhelming majority of Americans: Earlier this year, Gallup found that 71% of Americans support gay marriage, an all-time high. This mainstream position ― one shared by 39 other House Republicans at the time ― was too much to overcome for at least a handful of membe...
