House Votes to Clarify That LGBTQ+ People, Women Can be President
21st Century President Act, now officially allows women and LGBTQ+ people to become president. The bill was passed by a voice vote.The same bill passed the House in the last Congress by a voice vote as well, the Hill reports.Tuesday's vote targeted part of the U.S.
code that concerns threats to presidents, former presidents, and their "immediate family." The issue is that the code defines immediate family as “the wife of a former President during his lifetime, the widow of a former President until her death or remarriage, and minor children of a former President until they reach sixteen years of age.”The bill now strikes that wording and changes it to, “the spouse of a former President during a former President’s lifetime, the surviving spouse of a former President until the surviving 10 spouse’s death or remarriage.”The outlet notes that Hillary Clinton was the first woman presidential candidate of a major party, that Pete Buttigieg was a leading democratic candidate in the 2020 election, and that Kamala Harris became the first woman vice president with a second man.
All of whom have spouses that don't fit the code's definition of "immediate family."Wisconsin Democrat Rep. Mark Pocan, the sponsor of the bill, said in a House floor speech, “Someday there could be a President Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren or Amy Klobuchar or Tammy Baldwin or Pete Buttigieg or President Nikki Haley or Kristi Noem or Liz Cheney.”“The words in law matter," he continued. "It is critically important that federal law recognizes that we could have a president who is not a man or even a straight man and that they and their families deserve equal protection under the law.”Gay Rep.
