For several years, citizens have been pushing for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples have fought to show their love through marriage and now, victory has come for the gay rights movement. As of this morning the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage will be a nationwide right.
The 5-4 ruling enforces states will have to stop their bans on same-sex marriage. The ruling will not take effect right away, giving the the losing side around three weeks to ask for reconsideration from the court. However, state officials and county clerks decided there is no risk in allowing same-sex couples to obtain a marriage license.
The majority opinion was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were,” Kennedy wrote. “As some of the petitioners in the cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death.”
Kennedy also went on to speak directly to the criticism that often comes from conservatives who are against marriage equality.
“It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves,” Kennedy said. “Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
Thirty six states already permit gay couples to marry, which is roughly 70 percent of the U.S. population. Today’s ruling means that bans on same-sex marriage must end in the 14 other states that make up much of the Midwest and South.
The ruling today overturned a decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which had stated that states had legitimate reasons for maintaining the traditional definition of marriage, and that it would also be better “to allow change through the customary political processes” instead of being decided upon by the courts.
In the recent years, public opinion has changed drastically. In a recent Gallup poll, it showed that 60 percent of Americans support extending the same rights and privileges to same-sex couples. This ruling comes as a long awaited movement towards equality for not only same-sex couples, but everyone in America. Same-sex couples will no longer have to fight to be allowed to marry, because marriage equality is now the law of the land.
