AFSCME’s Saunders: ‘With the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, we are finally codifying that love is love’

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON – AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement celebrating the Senate’s passage of the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act:  

“With the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, we are finally codifying that love is love. We are saying that we will never go back to when people committed to one another were denied rights and protections because of sex, race, ethnicity or national origin. Marriage equality is not only an economic, legal and social issue. It represents the fundamental recognition that LGBTQ and interracial families deserve the dignity of having their unions legitimized and respected in every corner of our country. 

“AFSCME has proudly been in the vanguard of the struggle for LGBTQ rights for decades. In addition to our support for this measure, we will continue our advocacy for the Equality Act and other legislation to level the playing field for LGBTQ people. We are in this fight because LGBTQ rights are workers’ rights. It’s not just a shared struggle; it’s the same struggle.”