Same-sex Marriage Legal Nationwide, Supreme Court: gay couples can marry in all 50 states. YouFirstNews on Jun 26, 2015 BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court rules in favour of same-sex marriage. Constitution …More
Same-sex Marriage Legal Nationwide, Supreme Court: gay couples can marry in all 50 states.
YouFirstNews on Jun 26, 2015 BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court rules in favour of same-sex marriage. Constitution guarantees marriage equality to gay and lesbian couples, court says
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the U.S. Constitution gives gay people the right to marry in all 50 states.
In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires states to license marriages between people of the same sex and to recognize marriages that were lawfully performed outside of state.
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Friday ruled same-sex partners have a constitutional right to marry, sweeping away state bans on gay unions and extending marriage equality nationwide.
The 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges et. al. struck down restrictions on same-sex marriage in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee that a Cincinnati-based federal appeals court upheld last year. It also validated a series of lower court opinions that expanded the institution across most of the nation since 2012, following an earlier Supreme Court holding requiring federal recognition of gay and lesbian marriages in states that had chosen to authorize the practice.
The opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy caps a rapid shift in legal and societal acceptance of same-sex marriage over the past decade. It also marks a revolution in American society, one that in the course of a generation saw gay rights move to the front line from the fringes of a national debate over the meaning of equality.
Justice Kennedy is joined in the majority by the court’s four liberal justices— Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
Friday’s ruling marks the fourth major gay rights ruling by Justice Kennedy. As at times in the past, he used sweeping language in describing the outcome.
“As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage,” Justice Kennedy wrote. “They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
Massachusetts in 2003 became the first U.S. state to recognize gay marriages, a development that led to some states recognizing the practice and dozens of states amending state constitutions to forbid it.
Those constitutional bans began to fall after the 2013 U.S. v. Windsor ruling, which invalidated provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The opinion invoked two strands of reasoning: one indicating Congress should honor states’ definitions of marriage; another suggesting the Defense of Marriage Act served no purpose other than to stigmatize and demean same-sex relationships.
Lower courts overwhelmingly read the Windsor opinion as requiring them to strike down as unconstitutional state marriage restrictions, ending bans in more than a dozen states.
Ahead of the ruling, same-sex marriage was legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia. That includes Alabama, where a federal judge has ruled the state must recognize same-sex marriages but put the decision on hold pending the high court’s ruling on the matter.
The appeal before the Supreme Court was brought by 16 gay couples challenging marriage bans in the four states. The couples argued the U.S. Constitution entitles them to unions on the same terms as heterosexuals, and that state restrictions hurt them financially and demean their dignity by denying their unions legal recognition.
The four states had argued the courts should defer to the political process, leaving the decision of whether to recognize same-sex unions to the legislatures of each state.
While the ruling deals directly with marriage, it could also lead to changes in laws that can be read to allow discrimination based on sexual orientation. For instance, future legal contests may determine whether tax-exempt religious schools can reject gays and lesbians, and whether private businesses can cite religious reasons for refusing service based on sexual orientation.
The amendment affords equal protection under the law to all citizens and was key in other landmark decisions on racial and gender discrimination, such as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.
The court ruled that it would be a violation of the amendment to grant marriage rights only to heterosexual couples.
"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. ... [The challengers] ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The constitution grants them that right," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion.
Gay marriage is already legal in 37 of the 50 states (and the District of Columbia), and Friday's ruling means the other states will also have to allow and recognize marriages performed in other jurisdictions.
YouFirstNews on Jun 26, 2015 BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court rules in favour of same-sex marriage. Constitution guarantees marriage equality to gay and lesbian couples, court says
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the U.S. Constitution gives gay people the right to marry in all 50 states.
In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires states to license marriages between people of the same sex and to recognize marriages that were lawfully performed outside of state.
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Friday ruled same-sex partners have a constitutional right to marry, sweeping away state bans on gay unions and extending marriage equality nationwide.
The 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges et. al. struck down restrictions on same-sex marriage in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee that a Cincinnati-based federal appeals court upheld last year. It also validated a series of lower court opinions that expanded the institution across most of the nation since 2012, following an earlier Supreme Court holding requiring federal recognition of gay and lesbian marriages in states that had chosen to authorize the practice.
The opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy caps a rapid shift in legal and societal acceptance of same-sex marriage over the past decade. It also marks a revolution in American society, one that in the course of a generation saw gay rights move to the front line from the fringes of a national debate over the meaning of equality.
Justice Kennedy is joined in the majority by the court’s four liberal justices— Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
Friday’s ruling marks the fourth major gay rights ruling by Justice Kennedy. As at times in the past, he used sweeping language in describing the outcome.
“As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage,” Justice Kennedy wrote. “They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
Massachusetts in 2003 became the first U.S. state to recognize gay marriages, a development that led to some states recognizing the practice and dozens of states amending state constitutions to forbid it.
Those constitutional bans began to fall after the 2013 U.S. v. Windsor ruling, which invalidated provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The opinion invoked two strands of reasoning: one indicating Congress should honor states’ definitions of marriage; another suggesting the Defense of Marriage Act served no purpose other than to stigmatize and demean same-sex relationships.
Lower courts overwhelmingly read the Windsor opinion as requiring them to strike down as unconstitutional state marriage restrictions, ending bans in more than a dozen states.
Ahead of the ruling, same-sex marriage was legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia. That includes Alabama, where a federal judge has ruled the state must recognize same-sex marriages but put the decision on hold pending the high court’s ruling on the matter.
The appeal before the Supreme Court was brought by 16 gay couples challenging marriage bans in the four states. The couples argued the U.S. Constitution entitles them to unions on the same terms as heterosexuals, and that state restrictions hurt them financially and demean their dignity by denying their unions legal recognition.
The four states had argued the courts should defer to the political process, leaving the decision of whether to recognize same-sex unions to the legislatures of each state.
While the ruling deals directly with marriage, it could also lead to changes in laws that can be read to allow discrimination based on sexual orientation. For instance, future legal contests may determine whether tax-exempt religious schools can reject gays and lesbians, and whether private businesses can cite religious reasons for refusing service based on sexual orientation.
The amendment affords equal protection under the law to all citizens and was key in other landmark decisions on racial and gender discrimination, such as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.
The court ruled that it would be a violation of the amendment to grant marriage rights only to heterosexual couples.
"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. ... [The challengers] ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The constitution grants them that right," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion.
Gay marriage is already legal in 37 of the 50 states (and the District of Columbia), and Friday's ruling means the other states will also have to allow and recognize marriages performed in other jurisdictions.
Con Papa Pio X questa cosa non sarebbe mai successa! Stiamo ancora pagando le aperture e le scelte del nefasto Concilio Vaticano II !!! Nulla è perduto comunque! Siamo ancora in tempo per un repentino cambio di coscienza! Tocca a noi reagire! L'imponente manifestazione contro il gender di Roma dimostra che possiamo camminare insieme senza aver bisogno di queste autorità vaticane colluse con il …More
Con Papa Pio X questa cosa non sarebbe mai successa! Stiamo ancora pagando le aperture e le scelte del nefasto Concilio Vaticano II !!! Nulla è perduto comunque! Siamo ancora in tempo per un repentino cambio di coscienza! Tocca a noi reagire! L'imponente manifestazione contro il gender di Roma dimostra che possiamo camminare insieme senza aver bisogno di queste autorità vaticane colluse con il mondo modernista satanico e accondiscendi verso il peccato.