13 states banning gay marriage
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- In a sweeping historic verdict, the Supreme Court ruling has the effect of legalizing lesbian and same-sex attracted marriage nationwide, giving same-sex couples an equal right to marry.
The landmark ruling overturns bans on same sex-marriage in states across the country. The decree requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and forces states to recognize lgbtq+ marriages performed elsewhere.
Gay and lesbian couples already can join in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The court's 5-4 decision means the remaining 14 states, in the South and Midwest, will own to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, just as he did in the court's previous three major lgbtq+ rights cases digital dating back to 1996. It came on the anniversary of two of those earlier decisions.
"No union is more profound than marriage," Kennedy wrote, joined by the court's four more liberal justices.
MORE:Read Complete Same-Sex Marriage Decision
The justices include been deliberating since April on a federal appeals court ruling in Cincinnati that upheld bans on same-sex unions in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tenness
In a landmark decision, the nine justices of the US Supreme Court commanded that the US Constitution guarantees marriage as a right for all, including gay and lesbian couples. And when the US Supreme Court rules on an interpretation of the US Constitution, that decision is final.
Although the Supreme Court was divided 5-4 on the issue, this decision is just as legally binding as a unanimous one. In the case of Obergefell v. Hodges (and three related cases) the court found that the US Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. This means that all 50 states will have to allow same-sex marriage, and recognise same-sex marriages entered into in other states. The decision will also overturn the ban on same-sex marriages in 13 states across the US.
Writing for the court, Justice Kennedy said lgbtq+ and lesbian couples hold a fundamental right to marry: “no union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of cherish, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family,” he wrote. “In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.”
While acknowledging that individuals may have differing views as to whether equal sex marriage is appropr
Obergefell v. Hodges
Same-sex marriage has been controversial for decades, but tremendous progress was made across the Joined States as states individually began to lift bans to same-sex marriage. Before the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015) was decided, over 70% of states and the District of Columbia already established same-sex marriage, and only 13 states had bans. Fourteen same-sex couples and two men whose queer partners had since passed away, claimed Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee violated the Fourteenth Amendment by denying them the right to marry or have their legal marriages performed in another state recognized.
All district courts found in favor of the plaintiffs. On appeal, the cases were consolidated, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and held that the states' bans on lgbtq+ marriage and refusal to acknowledge legal same-sex marriages in other jurisdictions were not unconstitutional.
Among several arguments, the respondents asserted that the petitioners were not seeking to produce a new and nonexistent right to same-sex marriage. Justice Kenned
Some Republican lawmakers boost calls against lgbtq+ marriage SCOTUS ruling
Conservative legislators are increasingly speaking out against the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 judgment on same-sex marriage equality.
Idaho legislators began the trend in January when the state House and Senate passed a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision -- which the court cannot do unless presented with a case on the issue. Some Republican lawmakers in at least four other states like Michigan, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota own followed suit with calls to the Supreme Court.
In North Dakota, the resolution passed the mention House with a vote of 52-40 and is headed to the Senate. In South Dakota, the state’s Home Judiciary Committee sent the proposal on the 41st Legislative Day –deferring the bill to the final day of a legislative session, when it will no longer be considered, and effectively killing the bill.
In Montana and Michigan, the bills own yet to deal with legislative scrutiny.
Resolutions possess no legal command and are not binding law, but instead allow legislative bodies to communicate their collective opinions.
The resolutions in four other states ech
US Supreme Court rules lgbtq+ marriage is legal nationwide
Minutes after the ruling, couples in one of the states that had a ban, Georgia, lined up in hope of creature wed.
In Texas, Yasmin Menchaca and her partner Catherine Andrews told the BBC that they are "trying to round up our parents" in order to get married on Friday.
The two have been together for six years, and had attempted to wed in Washington state - but decided to stay because of the financial burden of flying their parents across the country.
On social media, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton merely tweeted the word "proud" and the White Residence changed its Twitter avatar, external into the rainbow colours.
The case considered by the court concerned Jim Obergefell, an Ohio resident who was not recognised as the legal widower of his late husband, John Arthur.
"It's my aspire that gay marriage will soon be a thing of the past, and from this day forward it will simply be 'marriage,'" an emotional Mr Obergefell said outside the court.