Monday, May 20 will mark 10 years since same-sex marriage became legal in Pennsylvania. A state lawmaker is now taking extra steps to protect those rights and remove outdated legal language that could make some marriages invalid.

State Rep. Jessica Benham (D-South Side) co-chairs the state legislature’s LGBTQ+ caucus.

She’s a sponsor of a recently introduced bi-partisan bill that would take out language from state laws stating marriage is solely between a man and a woman.

“Our laws are still written to define marriage as between one man and one woman,” Benham said. “If there was to be a court decision that overturned that right in Pennsylvania, we would default back to a system where some folks’ marriage, it wouldn’t be considered valid.”

Benham and Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who also sponsors the bill, want to make sure couples, including Nat Yap and his husband, are protected on the state level.

When Yap moved to Pennsylvania with his husband more than a decade ago, their out-of-state marriage license wasn’t legally recognized.

“It was very difficult, to be frank, to be married under the state of California law, but not recognized in many other states including Pennsylvania when we first moved here,” Yap said.

Yap and his husband got married in California, years before Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban was ruled unconstitutional on May 20, 2014.

“We did have very real concerns,” said Yap.

About a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

While court decisions struck the ban, Yap worries about his two young children if those marriage equality rights are threatened.

Language remains in Pennsylvania state laws that would ban same-sex marriage if both court decisions are overturned.

“Court rulings can get overturned and the right to same-sex marriage could go away,” Yap said. “Our family is just like anyone else’s and that we will do everything in our power to make sure they’re protected. That includes making sure we’re voting in every single election.”

Yap will celebrate his 16-year wedding anniversary with his husband later this year in Shadyside.

Yap supports the bill and says it would make sure LGBTQ married couples have the same rights as everyone else across the commonwealth.

“Codifying these things into law sends the message to everyone that we are equal and that makes sure that everyone gets treated equally as well,” he said.

The bill to protect same-sex marriage is in the Judiciary Committee.

“Ultimately, what I would like to see, is that we enshrine protections for people on the state level, whether we’re talking about the right for folks to marry who they love, or we’re talking about the right for women to access healthcare,” Benham said. “We need to make sure we’re doing everything we can on the state level to protect those rights.”

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