Disney, Universal, and More Sign Letter in Support of U.S. Respect for Marriage Act

After facing backlash to its response (and initial lack of response) to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Bill (what critics called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill), Disney has quickly made its stance clear on a bill pending in the U.S. Senate.

The United States Senate is preparing to vote on the Respect for Marriage Act and Disney, along with over 100 other businesses, has signed an open letter in support.

The Respect for Marriage Act is described as a bill that “provides statutory authority for same-sex and interracial marriages.” Specifically, the bill “repeals and replaces provisions that define, for purposes of federal law, marriage as between a man and a woman and spouse as a person of the opposite sex with provisions that recognize any marriage that is valid under state law.”

The bill summary on the Congressional website points out that the Supreme Court of the United States already held that some of those provisions were unconstitutional in the case of United States v. Windsor in 2013.

As Deadline reports the act also declares that marriages performed in one state need to be recognized in all states regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.” Essentially, the bill provides rights to same-sex marriage, ensures rights for those in interracial marriages, repeals the Defense of Marriage Act from 1996, and (as we noted above) requires states to recognize out-of-state marriage regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, and national origin.

The bill text notes that the Supreme Court has already held that “state laws barring same-sex marriages were unconstitutional in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015,” and that the Supreme Court has already held that “state laws barring interracial marriages were unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia in 1967.”

The Bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives recently and has since been received in the U.S. Senate and read there. The Bill will need to pass the U.S. Senate before it becomes law, and some suggest that this is “unlikely” to take place before the recess set to take place in August. (Bloomberg)

Now, an open letter has been created in support of the bill’s passage. The Human Rights Campaign indicates that they have “mobilized” over 170 businesses to call on the Senate to pass the bill.

The letter signed by the business notes that “Americans from all walks of life, across demographics, geographies, and party lines agree that loving, committed couples have the right to be respected and protected under the law.”

But they note that the current patchwork of “inconsistent and discriminatory” state laws on marriage goes against their company values and makes it harder to do business and recruit top talent. That is why they’ve indicated their support to codify “a consistent and inclusive federal standard” to “ensure marriage equality.”

The letter goes on to note that the businesses “strongly embrace diversity and inclusion because we want everyone who works for us or does business with us to feel included and welcomed as their true, authentic selves.” They end the letter by calling on the Senate to pass the Respect for Marriage Act.

The letter has been signed by a multitude of businesses including Airbnb, HP, Amazon.Com, Inc., American Airlines, Apple, Comcast NBCUniversal, Macy’s, Inc, Target, and The Walt Disney Company.

Again, the Respect for Marriage Act is pending before the U.S. Senate at this point. Whether it will be passed before the recess or passed at all remains to be seen.

To learn more about the situation with Disney and the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill, click here. And to see what former Disney CEO Bob Iger had to say about the bill, click here.

We’ll continue to look for more updates on current situations involving the Walt Disney Company and we’ll let you know what we find.