After passing the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, a bill designed to protect same-sex and interracial marriages is heading to the House where it seems likely to pass, despite concerns from marriage equality activists that the Respect for Marriage Act does not close loopholes allowing for discrimination in some public settings. Other activists say that the bill is the best that can be hoped for in a closely divided Congress.

In an interview with TYT, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said that he and other House supporters of marriage equality are deferring to the judgment of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who used a bipartisan strategy to peel off a small number of chamber Republicans to overcome a filibuster maneuver by anti-LGBT Republicans. Her approach succeeded, with 12 Republican senators voting for the bill.

Earlier in the year, the House had passed a similar bill, but because the Senate version has Baldwin’s amendment, the House will have to approve the Senate bill in order for it to be sent to Pres. Joe Biden for his approval.

At present, there appear to be no efforts in the House to resolve concerns of equality advocates that the Respect for Marriage Act allows non-church entities to engage in discrimination against same-sex couples.

“That was Tammy Baldwin’s amendment so I assume most members will take it as a signal, like I have, that the LGBTQ community is willing to swallow that concession in order to get this through,” Raskin told TYT. “But, you know, we'll turn to it. Obviously, we think it’s imperative that we act.”

Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the 2015 Supreme Court case that formally legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, has said that he fears that the concessions that were made to Senate Republicans could enable continued discrimination in the name of a distorted concept of “religious freedom” that allows citizens to violate the civil rights of others in public spaces.

“Until we come together as a nation to say, ‘This is what religious freedom means,’ this is going to continue,” Obergefell told TYT last month. “If the Respect For Marriage Act does protect our rights as married couples and as families in our nation, I’m certainly not going to say no. Could it be better? Yes.”

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) told TYT that he had not heard of any pushback from progressive or Black House caucuses against the Respect for Marriage Act. The Congressional Freethought Caucus, which Raskin co-chairs, has not announced opposition to the bill.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a far-right Catholic, condemned the bill as “insanity” in a Nov. 21 news release, because it did not include language that would enable even more discrimination.

Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the number of same-sex households in the nation has exceeded one million. Advocates of marriage equality have urged Congress and the president to formally codify same-sex marriage into federal law after Clarence Thomas, an extremist justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote in an opinion that he wanted to abolish it.

TYT Washington Correspondent Candice Cole was previously a correspondent and senior White House producer for the Black News Channel and has worked at a number of local news outlets. You can find her on Twitter @CandiceColeNews.

TYT National Correspondent Matthew Sheffield reports about politics, media, and technology. Follow him on Twitter: @mattsheffield.