In a momentous 5-4 decision on Friday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality and deemed the Constitution allows for same-sex couples to marry in all 50 states, and that states may no longer reserve the right to marry for heterosexual couples alone. While critics have decried that same-sex marriage undermines the social infrastructure of the nation, the ruling is perhaps more reflective of the decades-long legal battle that has consonantly ridden the wave of progressive public opinion and, today, successfully changed the rule of law.
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family…It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. “Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
The High Court was supported by a profound cultural shift and a handful of smaller victories for gay rights, where groundwork was methodically laid in past cases for today’s sweeping win. Lawyers in this case argued that their plaintiffs had the fundamental right to marry and of equal protection, where former marriage bans demeaned dignity and imposed unnecessary and unlawful burdens on everyday life. President Obama, who had unequivocally encouraged the Court rule in favor of the plaintiffs, hailed the decision.
“This ruling is a victory for America. This decision affirms what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts. When all Americans are truly treated as equal we are more free,” the President said.
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