Democrat Congresswoman Seeks To Replace ‘Husband, Wife’ With ‘Spouse’ In Federal Laws

NEW YORK (VINnews) — New legislation proposed by California Democrat congresswoman Julia Brownley seeks to remove the words “husband” and “wife” from federal law and replace them with several other terms including “spouse.”

The “Amend the Code for Marriage Equality Act,” introduced by Brownley, seeks to amend several existing laws by striking the terms “husband” and “wife” from their text. The proposed legislation would substitute the words with phrases such as “a married couple,” “married person” and “person who has been, but is no longer, married to’’ depending on the context.

“Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples have the right to marry, there are many instances where the U.S. Code does not respect that constitutional right,” Brownley said in a statement released Friday.

“Now more than ever, with an extreme Supreme Court and state legislatures rolling back the rights of the LGBTQ community, it is imperative that Congress showcases its commitment to supporting equality,” she continued. “This common-sense bill will ensure that our federal code reflects the equality of all marriages by recognizing and acting upon the notion that the words in our laws have meaning and our values as a country are reflected in our laws.”

This isn’t the first time the bill has been submitted to Congress. Ms. Brownley introduced the legislation in 2021, 2019 and 2017, continuing the initiative of now-retired Rep. Lois Capps, California Democrat, who originally presented the bill in 2015.