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| In historic judgement, SC declares same-sex marriage legal across the US | | | Agencies
washington, June 26: The Supreme Court declared today that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States.
Gay and lesbian couples already can marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The court's 5-4 ruling means the remaining 14 states, in the South and Midwest, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.
The outcome is the culmination of two decades of Supreme Court litigation over marriage, and gay rights generally.
Writing the order for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said marriage is a "keystone of the nation's social order" and that there is "no difference between same- and opposite-sex couples with respect to this principle".
He criticised the fact that same-sex couples are denied the benefits that states have linked to marriage.
"It is demeaning to lock same-sex couples out of a central institution of the nation's society, for they too may aspire to the transcendent purposes of marriage," he wrote.
The ruling will not take effect immediately because the court gives the losing side roughly three weeks to ask for reconsideration.
But some state officials and county clerks might decide there is little risk in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The cases before the court involved laws from several states that define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
Those states have not allowed same-sex couples to marry within their borders and they also have refused to recognise valid marriages from elsewhere.
Just two years ago, the Supreme Court struck down part of the federal anti-gay marriage law that denied a range of government benefits to legally married same-sex couples.
The decision in United States v. Windsor did not address the validity of state marriage bans, but courts across the country, with few exceptions, said its logic compelled them to invalidate state laws that prohibited gay and lesbian couples from marrying.
The number of states allowing same-sex marriage has grown rapidly. As recently as October, just over one-third of the states permitted same-sex marriage.
There are an estimated 390,000 married same-sex couples in the United States, according to Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, which tracks the demographics of gay and lesbian Americans.
Another 70,000 couples living in states that do not currently permit them to wed would get married in the next three years, the institute says. Roughly 1 million same-sex couples, married and unmarried, live together in the United States, the institute says.
The Obama administration backed the right of same-sex couples to marry.
The Justice Department's decision to stop defending the federal anti-marriage law in 2011 was an important moment for gay rights and President Barack Obama declared his support for same-sex marriage in 2012.
Obama said the ruling is a victory for America.
"In doing so, they've reaffirmed that all Americans are entitled to the equal protection of the law. That all people should be treated equally, regardless of who they are or who they love," President Barack Obama said.
"This decision will end the patchwork system we currently have. It will end the uncertainty hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples face from not knowing whether their marriage, legitimate in the eyes of one state, will remain if they decide to move to or even visit another," Obama told reporters at the White House.
"This decision affirms what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts: When all Americans are treated as equal we are all more free," he said adding that his administration has been guided by that idea.
"It's why we stopped defending the so-called Defence of Marriage Act, and why we were pleased when the court finally struck down a central provision of that discriminatory law," said the president.
However, Republican presidential candidate, Bobby Jindal was highly critical of the ruling of the Supreme Court.
"The Supreme Court is completely out of control, making laws on their own, and has become a public opinion poll instead of a judicial body. If we want to save some money lets just get rid of the court," Jindal said.
"Marriage between a man and a woman was established by God, and no earthly court can alter that. Hillary Clinton and the Left will now mount an all-out assault on Religious Freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment," he said.
Along with the millions of Americans, Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, said she is celebrating the landmark victory for marriage equality, and the generations of advocates and activists who fought to make it possible.
"From Stonewall to the Supreme Court, the courage and determination of the LGBT community has changed hearts and changed laws," she said.
"This ruling is an affirmation of the commitment of couples across the country who love one another. It reflects the will of the vast and growing multitude of Americans who believe that LGBT couples deserve to be recognised under the law and treated equally in the eyes of society. And it represents our country at its best: inclusive, open, and striving towards true equality," Clinton said.
The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) welcomed the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell vs Hodges case to recognise that the Constitution forbids state governments from denying the rights of marriage to same sex couples.
"Today is a great day for all Americans who will have the dignity of marriage, regardless of where they live or who they love," noted Harsh Voruganti, HAF associate director.
"The Supreme Court's decision reinforces HAF's stance throughout this case: that the Constitution does not permit governments to deny marriage to same sex couples," he said. |
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