This symbolic bill would replace the state’s current husband/wife definition with any “two individuals,” ignoring the primary reason why the government is involved with marriage. 

(HARRISBURG, PA – July 2, 2024) Today, in an expression that places the desires of adults over the needs of children, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted to pass House Bill 2269, which would replace Pennsylvania’s marriage law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and reduce marriage to be between any “two individuals.” 

“Marriage brings together the two halves of humanity, the union of one man and one woman, together as husband and wife to care for each other and to be father and mother to any children their union produces. This is the vital public interest and objective reality that governments throughout history have recognized, including Pennsylvania,” said Michael Geer, President of Pennsylvania Family Institute.

In 2015, the sweeping U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision effectively nullified the longstanding policy in Pennsylvania’s Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage in state law as between one man and one woman. House Bill 2269, sponsored by Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia), is a symbolic bill that would enshrine the federal court’s redefinition of marriage into Pennsylvania state law.

Pennsylvania law defines marriage as “a civil contract by which one man and one woman take each other for husband and wife.” House Bill 2269 would remove this definition and replace it with “a civil contract between two individuals.”

“It is in the state’s best interests to promote the well-being of children, and marriage as the union of one man and one woman is the public policy interest that best affords a child with the care of a loving mother and father,” added Geer.