Twelve Republican senators joined all Democrats to move forward on the bill, the "Respect for Marriage Act," including: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Todd Young of Indiana.

Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska did not vote.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted against the Respect for Marriage Act but refused to stake out a public position before the vote. Sen. John Thune of North Dakota, the GOP senator responsible for enforcing party discipline on important votes, also voted no, though he did not urge Republicans to oppose it.

Democrats needed 10 Republicans to overcome the Senate's 60-vote filibuster and begin formal debate on the bill.

The legislation is now on a glide path to final passage, which would require just 51 votes and is likely to happen after the Senate's Thanksgiving recess, CNN reported.

[Wednesday's] vote came despite the objections of many of the most prominent conservative groups in the United States, including the Heritage Foundation and Alliance Defending Freedom, thousands of Christian churches and institutions, and the overwhelming majority of Republican voters who oppose federal legislation to codify homosexual "marriage."

The Respect of Marriage Act makes the redefinition of marriage the law of the land, even in the event that the Supreme Court overturns its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that mandates legal recognition of same-sex "marriage" nationwide.

The bill repeals the unenforced Defense of Marriage Act, which recognized marriage at the federal level as a union of one man and one woman and guaranteed states' right to uphold traditional marriage, and requires the federal government and all 50 states to recognize homosexual "marriages" lawfully performed in any state.

It also poses grave threats to religious freedom, as numerous social conservative and religious liberty organizations have repeatedly warned... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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