On December 8, 2022, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation cementing federal protections for same sex and interracial couples.

“In 2015 the Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. However, nationwide efforts began in the 1990s and intensified after the 1996 Defense of Marriage,” said government teacher Stacy Selle.

The community has faced decades of negative headlines or seeing only the mistreatment being reported. The new law has been bringing some light into those headlines.

“A lot of the news regarding the community is usually negative, so even if you aren’t super involved in reading the news, to see something good for the community is an uplifting feeling. For a while the news was just too much for me, so it’s nice to see a positive change for once,” said SAGA sponsor Robyn Steinmetz.

The new law has impacted not only the present LGBTQ+ community but the future of it as well. This new law has the chance to change relationships between allies and the community along with representation in the media.

“It is nice to see. I mean it doesn’t directly affect me just because of my specific identity. It is nice to know that like the people around me, the people I’m friends with, I know won’t have as much of an issue as they might have had were this not to be passed. It is nice to hear at least,” said senior Andrew Hexamer.

The law has been bringing comfort to members and allies as they feel their voices being heard.

“It makes it more permanent. It is more tangible and harder to reverse. Supreme Court decisions can be reversed with a different later court, but passing legislation is a little bit harder to get that reversed, so it is a little more solidified,” Hexamer said.

“I like when good things happen to me,” senior Cedar Mulhall added.

The new laws are bringing new hope for the future of the LGBTQ+ community.

To support the community in multiple ways one can donate to organizations such as “The Trevor Project.” The organization works to give counseling to those who are part of the community. Their overall mission is to end suicide within the community.