The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ended, in one sense, same-sex marriage.
Now, in every state in the union, we can use just one word: marriage, without need of any qualifier.
The high court, in a 5-4 decision, found state bans on same-sex marriages unconstitutional.
“Under the Constitution, same-sex couples seek in marriage the same legal treatment as opposite-sex couples, and it would disparage their choices and diminish their personhood to deny them this right,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in the majority opinion. Kennedy was joined in the ruling by justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Kennedy, in his opinion, cites the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to link each person’s identity to her or his liberty, finding that liberty is denied when personal opposition, such as that to same-sex marriage, is enacted as law. The decision recalls another case, Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 Supreme Court decision that changed what “traditional marriage” meant to some and threw out state laws that barred interracial marriage. Chief Justice Earl Warren, in that decision, wrote: “Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival.”
No one expected a unanimous decision by the court in this case, but the dissent by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, is disheartening because it seeks to deny the legitimacy of the ruling and the legitimacy of the liberty of same-sex couples.
Roberts, in his dissent, made no claim that same-sex marriages are illegal, just that the question of opening marriage to same-sex couples should be left to state legislatures, not decided by courts.
“If you are among the many Americans — of whatever sexual orientation — who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision. Celebrate the achievement of a desired goal. Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.”
But the Constitution has everything to do with it.
Roberts may rather we wait for public opinion to favor gay marriage in all 50 states. We may be headed in that direction, regardless; a recent Washington Post-ABC poll showed 61 percent of Americans say they support the rights of same-sex couples to wed, with even larger margins among young adults.
But up until Friday’s decision, the laws of the 50 states were divided, with 37 states and the District of Columbia recognizing same-sex marriages. That split meant same-sex married couples’ rights to liberty weren’t recognized outside of those states, which made their protection under the 14th Amendment necessary.
As a nation, we have conversations ahead of us as we celebrate a more inclusive right to marry while respecting the religious liberties and beliefs of those who object to it.
But we can now celebrate all marriages and the Constitution.
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