Respect for Marriage Act
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Respect for Marriage Act
Amends the Defense of Marriage Act to repeal a provision that prohibited a state, territory, possession, or Indian tribe from being required to recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a same sex marriage.
Amends the federal rules of construction added by such Act concerning the definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" to provide that, for purposes of any federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual's marriage is valid in the state where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any state, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a state. Removes the definition of "spouse" (currently, a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife).
Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 197: Respect for Marriage Act. 114th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-197/
"H.R. 197: Respect for Marriage Act." 114th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-197/.
H.R. 197, 114th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-197/.
[H.R. 197: Respect for Marriage Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-197/)