By Jared D. Childress | OBSERVER Staff Writer
Standing on the South Lawn of the White House was a full-circle moment for local activist Ebony Harper.
As a Black trans woman and child of Jamaican immigrants who grew up on the tough streets of Watts in Los Angeles, she often felt marginalized. But that day, she stood amongst several thousand activists selected to watch President Joe Biden sign the Respect for Marriage Act on Dec. 13.
“That experience wasn’t just signing the act, it was really me actually feeling a part of America. Finally saying that this is my home,” said Harper, 43. “I never felt that until I visited the White House.”
Harper believes her work with the Lieutenant Governor’s Office and as executive director of California TRANScends – an advocacy group for Black and Brown transgender communities – is what earned her an invitation to the White House. She was allowed to bring a plus-one, inviting her friend and fellow activist, Elika Bernard, who is a co-founder of Black Womxn United, a nonprofit made famous for the Black Women’s March in 2017.
Although LGBTQIA+ couples won the right to marry in 2015, many fear that the Supreme Court could overturn that ruling. This widespread concern led to the Respect for Marriage Act being ushered in to codify federal protections of same-sex and interracial marriage; it requires all states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed in other states and federally recognizes these marriages.
And while the act is largely considered a win for LGBTQIA+ rights, it also includes a provision that religious nonprofits aren’t required to perform same-sex marriages. This final provision allowed the act to garner the bipartisan support needed to clear the Senate in November with a 61-36 vote.
Cassandra Jennings has worked for elected officials and also held leadership titles in several Black-advocacy organizations. She was one of several prominent Black leaders who donated money to help Harper and Bernard with travel expenses.
“I just thought this was the way we can support our younger people in their fight for equality and justice,” Jennings said. “We also need to support the rights of others. Even for the church, we need to respect their faith and their religion while being respectful of others. [The Respect for Marriage Act] doesn’t close doors for anyone.”
Same-sex marriage currently is protected by Obergefell v. Hodges and interracial marriage is protected by Loving v. Virginia; both Supreme Court cases ruled that those marriages are constitutionally protected under the 14th Amendment by its due process and equal protection clauses.
But many feared the future of these precedents was uncertain given the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. While Roe v. Wade didn’t remove federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote on page 119 of the court’s majority opinion that justices should “reconsider all of the Court’s substantive due process precedents,” citing Obergefell by name.
If Obergefell were overturned by the Supreme Court, same-sex marriage would revert back to state law, leading to a ban on same-sex marriage in most states. However, now that the Respect for Marriage Act is federal law, it would require those states with bans to recognize marriage licenses granted in other states.
The Respect for Marriage Act is considered a testament to Congress’s bipartisan power, but Bernard questioned the Supreme Court and the Constitution’s role in policy.
“The Constitution was written by human beings who owned other human beings; and that is a very dangerous line to toe,” said Bernard, 35. “If we can’t criticize the Constitution and accurately critique it, we are saying that it is infallible when it was created by fallible human beings. And do we need our constitution to evolve with us?”
The Respect for Marriage Act ceremony was a spectacle. Broadcast live on television, it featured impassioned speeches from Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden, and performances from LGBTQIA+ advocates Cyndi Lauper and Sam Smith.
While Harper was moved by the event, she noted there was little Black trans representation. It reminded her that Black trans folks are still marginalized at the intersections of race and gender.
“If a trans person is Black, then it is a Black issue,” Harper said. “Also, [by supporting marriage equality] you’re protecting your nieces, your nephews, your sons, and people’s right to exist the way they want to exist – which is a revolutionary right.”