This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples violates the Constitution, making same-sex marriage legal nationwide. The majority 5-4 rule was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
President Barack Obama, speaking from the White House after the ruling, called the decision a “victory for America.”
“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 once they were,” Kennedy wrote. “As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death.”
Writing for the dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts said, “for those who believe in a government of laws, not of men, the majority’s approach is deeply disheartening.”
36 more states now permit same-sex marriage. The decision strikes down the remaining bans in the other 14 states – Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. This landmark ruling is the most significant change to marriage laws since striking down state bans on inter-racial marriage 50 years ago.
