U.S. Supreme Court ruling a landmark for gay rights
A divided u.S. Supreme court gave a landmark victory to the gay-rights movement, striking down a federal law that denies benefits to same-sex married couples and clearing the way for weddings to resume in California.
The court stopped short of declaring a constitutional right for gays to marry, or even ruling directly on California’s voter-approved ban, as the justices considered the issue for the first time. California Governor Jerry Brown said counties will begin issuing same-sex marriage licences as soon as an appeals court implements Wednesday’s ruling.
The decisions sustain the momentum that has grown behind same-sex marriage over the past decade. With a 5-4 procedural ruling in the California case, the court reinstated a judge’s order allowing gay marriages there. By striking down the core of the U.S. defense of Marriage Act by a different 5-4 majority, the court rejected many of the justifications for treating same-sex and heterosexual couples differently.
That law “places same-sex couples in an unstable position of being in a second-tier marriage,” Justice Kennedy wrote for the court in the federal marriage case. “The differentiation demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the constitution protects, and whose relationship the state has sought to dignify.”
The historic cases reached the justices as the gay marriage movement was achieving unprecedented success. Twelve states and the district of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage, six of them in the last year.
“After years of struggle, the U.S. Supreme court today has made samesex marriage a reality in California,” Mr. Brown said in a statement. It will take about a month before same-sex marriages can begin in California.
The Supreme court “made clear today that you have a right to marry,
Victory for couples who have long fought for equal treatment under the law
that there is no basis for discrimination,” David Boies, one of the lawyers representing the challengers to California’s Proposition 8, said outside the high court.
The Supreme court said the sponsors of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that banned gay marriage, lacked legal standing to appeal the trial judge’s order. California officials had refused to defend the measure.
The decisions drew hundreds of demonstrators, many carrying progay marriage signs and rainbow coloured flags, to the steps of the Supreme court.
When Justice Kennedy announced the outcome in the defense of Marriage Act case, one audience member squealed and several began crying, wiping their eyes with tissues.
In a statement issued from Air Force One, President Barack Obama applauded the court for striking down the defense of Marriage Act and called it a “victory for couples who have long fought for equal treatment under the law.”