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The Senate voted to advance a bill protecting same-sex marriages on Wednesday, clearing a procedural hurdle by gaining sufficient Republican support to overcome a filibuster.
In a 62-37 vote, 12 Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in supporting the measure, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and guarantee that valid marriages are given full faith and credit in other states, regardless of sex or race.
Here are the 12 Senate Republicans who voted to advance the bill:
Collins was one of three GOP senators who worked with a group of Democrats to spearhead the legislation and garner additional Republican votes.
The moderate Republican over the years has supported multiple bills supporting LGBTQ rights, including in 2004, when she voted against a proposed Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
In the years since, Collins has supported the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and was the only Republican co-sponsor on the Equality Act, a bill that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in public accommodations and facilities.
Portman first indicated his support for same-sex marriage in 2013 after his son came out to the Ohio Republican as gay.
At the time, it made Portman the only sitting Republican senator to endorse same-sex marriage.
“I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married. This isn’t how I’ve always felt,” Portman wrote in a Columbus Dispatch op-ed at the time.
Portman was also part of the five-member group that spearheaded the legislation.
As the third and final Senate Republican to join Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) in pushing the legislation, Tillis’s support for the legislation came as no surprise.
In a 2014 debate for his first Senate run, Tillis, who was at the time serving as North Carolina’s House speaker, said he would “formally defend” the state’s gay marriage ban.
But he has since softened his position, and earlier this year told reporters he would “probably” vote for the Respect for Marriage Act before becoming more involved in the negotiations to add religious liberty protections.
