The Supreme Court Just Ruled That Gay Marriage Is Legal in All 50 States
Love is love is love. Marriage is marriage is marriage.
So says a historic decision this morning from the Supreme Court of the United States. SCOTUS ruled, 5-4, that same-sex marriage is a Constitutional right.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority and was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer.
The ruling reads:
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. 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 judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed.
It is so ordered.â€
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel A. Alito, Jr. dissented.
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Politicians and celebrities immediately began responding to the news. Some of the highlights:
Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else. #LoveWins
— President Obama (@POTUS) June 26, 2015
All marriages at their root are about love. In America, our laws now recognize that simple truth. #LoveWins today we couldn’t be prouder.
— Vice President Biden (@VP) June 26, 2015
This decision recognizes the fundamental truth that our love is all equal. Today is a great day for America. #LoveWins -mo
— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) June 26, 2015
Proud. pic.twitter.com/9J44PCYeuQ
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 26, 2015
Today the Supreme Court fulfilled the words engraved upon its building: ‘Equal justice under law.’ #SCOTUSMarriage
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 26, 2015
Love won. #MarriageEquality
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) June 26, 2015
Today is beautiful
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) June 26, 2015
It’s a new day. Thank you Supreme Court. Thank you Justice Kennedy. Your opinion is profound, in more ways than you may know. #huzzah
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) June 26, 2015
#MarriageEquaility!!!! A giant step towards our country being a better place to be!
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) June 26, 2015
Wow. So moved to hear such amazing news. What a beautiful day. Grateful to those who have worked so tirelessly for equality. #lovewins
— Ellen Page (@EllenPage) June 26, 2015
This momentous decision comes just a day after another big SCOTUS ruling that upheld Obamacare subsidies, essentially saving the healthcare reform.