In a remarkable show of bipartisan cooperation, the US Senate passed landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriages.

The bill, which guarantees interracial and same-sex marriages, was approved by 61 votes to 36 on Tuesday. It also received support from 12 Republicans.

The passage of the bill is a sign that politics are shifting on same-sex marriages. It will also provide relief to the hundreds of thousands who married after the 2015 decision by the Supreme Court which legalized gay marriage nationwide.

Since June’s Supreme Court decision that invalidated the federal right for an abortion, the bill has been gaining momentum. Justice Clarence Thomas provided a concurring opinion that suggested that same-sex marriage might also be at risk.

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President Joe Biden applauded the bipartisan vote, and stated he would sign the bill “promptly & proudly” if the House of Representatives passes it. The Republicans won back the House of Representatives in the midterm elections earlier in the month.

He stated that the bill would ensure that LGBTQ youth will grow up knowing they can live full, happy lives, and have their own families.

Chuck Schumer, Senate majority leader, said that the legislation was “a long-awaited” and part America’s “difficulty but inexorable march toward greater equality.

This legislation does not require any state to allow gay couples to get married.

It will however require states to recognize marriages that are legal in the places they were performed and to protect existing same-sex unions if the Obergefell/Hodges Supreme Court decision of 2015 is overturned.

The following Republicans voted for the legislation: Thom Tillis, Richard Burr of North Carolina; Susan Collins of Maine; Rob Portman of Ohio; Todd Young of Indiana; Shelley Moore Capito from West Virginia; Mitt Romney of Utah; Joni Ernst of Iowa. Roy Blunt, Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming, and Lisa Murkowski.