Any day now, the US Supreme Court will announce their decision regarding same-sex marriage. The lgbt community and their allies, families, and friends are preparing for this historical moment all over the country, waiting with bated breath for the ruling that could change everything – waiting for a ruling that could finally put an end to all the waiting.
What exactly are they waiting for? In short, equality.
The main question addressed in the case is whether the 14th amendment requires all states to allow same-sex marriages. The next big question is whether states must recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex issued in other states.The case centers on the constitutionality of the bans on same-sex marriage currently present in four states: Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Tennessee. The potential outcomes of the judges opinions are varied.
If the supreme court rules that marriage bans prohibiting same sex marriage are unconstitutional, then gay marriage would become legal nationwide. Currently, 37 of our states allow same sex marriage.
If the court rules against gay marriage, then current bans in any of the states will remain in effect. This would not impact any states where gay marriage has been granted by ballot initiatives or state-court rulings, but it could be more complex for states that have relied on lower federal court rulings (Virginia and Colorado).
As far as reciprocity is concerned, the judges could decide either way. For example, they could determine that the bans are constitutional, that states are not required to marry same sex couples, but that they must recognize marriages from other states. Or they could give gay marriage a sweeping victory and end the madness once and for all. It’s like Evan Wolfson, founder of Freedom to Marry, says in his trending tweet: We don’t know. No one knows. We’ll see.
Either way, this is a culmination of civil rights making its move for decades, and, like any major revolution, there are brave people who fought hard way before our time, when they had everything in the world to lose. Mark Segal, Harry Hay, Phyllis Lyon, Del Martin, and Barbara Gittings are a few of the first pioneers, creating organizations united for social change as early as 1950.
History will be made as early as Thursday, June 25th. Get your party shoes ready.
SOURCES:
Boundless.com
Wall Street Journal
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/06/23/the-gay-marriage-case-how-the-supreme-court-could-rule/
Freedom to Marry
Amanda Poynter
Amanda Poynter is an adventurer, actress and Co-Founder of Kismet Ideas – A Lovely Production Company. Amanda is known for testing the limits and developing epic adventures that have led her around the world. She loves mentoring youth, which began in her home town of Mission Viejo and continued as she traveled the globe with her skateboard. Her experience skating with street kids in Szeged, Hungary – and this drive to travel, connect, and create – led her to build an after-school skateboarding program in Australia. She believes life to be a grand adventure, which is why she wants to encourage others to dream big. She has landed lead roles in music videos, commercials, and film since following her dream of acting and she is having fun creating a new web series called Les Travels with her fiancé Paige.
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