Bold advance. Epic. Now we'll just wait for the states to approve polyamory and lower the age of consensual sex to 15 or below. Who knows? We're on the cusp of a new era. Unicorns and rainbows!
At the Los Angeles Times, "A bold advance for gay marriage."
And at the Wall Street Journal, "Historic Win for Gay Marriage: High Court Rulings Lift Bans on Federal Same-Sex Benefits, Weddings in California":
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court dramatically advanced gay rights Wednesday in rulings that direct the federal government to provide equal treatment to same-sex spouses and allow the resumption of gay marriages in California.Continue reading.
In a pair of 5-4 rulings on the final day of the court's term, the justices struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to gay couples married under state law, and let stand a ruling that found Proposition 8, a 2008 voter initiative that ended same-sex marriage in California, unconstitutional.
In striking down DOMA, Justice Anthony Kennedy said Congress had no business undermining a state's decision to extend "the recognition, dignity and protection" of marriage to same-sex couples.
By excluding such couples from the rights and responsibilities of marriage contained in more than 1,000 provisions of federal law, "DOMA writes inequality into the entire United States Code," Justice Kennedy wrote.
The DOMA ruling had immediate effects. The Obama administration said it would move swiftly to ensure same-sex married couples get the same tax and other benefits as heterosexual couples, although the process for doing so is uncertain for same-sex couples who marry in one state, then move to a state that doesn't recognize gay marriage.
Meantime, noncitizens who are married to American same-sex partners likely would qualify for permanent resident status, lawyers said.
In California, Attorney General Kamala Harris said she would order that marriage licenses be granted to same-sex couples statewide as soon as a U.S. appeals court takes a procedural step, which could come within a month.
The Supreme Court's rulings didn't say whether there is a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage, ensuring years of battles in states that bar it. Groups that believe marriage is between a man and woman said they would fight state by state to defend that definition, while the American Civil Liberties Union tapped veteran GOP strategists as part of a $10 million campaign seeking to convert Republican-led states to the gay-marriage cause.
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