US President Joe Biden signed legislation on Tuesday granting federal protections to same-sex marriage.

Biden said at the White House ceremony to mark the signing that "America takes a vital step toward equality, for liberty and justice - not just for some, but for everyone."

World-famous US singer Cyndi Lauper, who is an advocate for sexual minority rights, told reporters that "Americans can now love who they love."

A Supreme Court ruling in 2015 virtually legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 US states.

But earlier this year the conservative-leaning Supreme Court overturned a nearly 50-year-old decision that gave women the constitutional right to have an abortion.

The ruling raised fears that the top court could also overturn the decision on same-sex marriage.

The new law requires states to recognize all legal marriages. This means a couple's rights are guaranteed, even if they were to move to a state where same-sex marriage had become illegal.

The Democrats took the steps to enact federal legislation to protect gay marriage if the Supreme Court were to reverse its 2015 decision.

A 2020 US poll showed that gay couples accounted for 1.5 percent of the entire number of households. That amounted to 980,000 same-sex couple households.

Conservatives and liberals in the United States have long been at odds over whether to approve same-sex marriage.