Human rights advance in California, Prop 8 and DOMA dismantled.

[Lady Lilith]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court/2013/06/26/f0039814-d9ab-11e2-a016-92547bf094cc_story.html

 

 

The Supreme Court’s first rulings on same-sex marriage produced historic gains for gay rights Wednesday: full federal recognition of legally married gay couples and an opening for such unions to resume in the nation’s most-populous state.

The divided court stopped short of a more sweeping ruling that the fundamental right to marry must be extended to gay couples no matter where they live.

Gallery

Victories for same-sex marriage: The Supreme Court struck down a key part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman for the purpose of federal law. The court declined to rule on California’s Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman, clearing the way for the unions in that state.

Read the rulings

The decision

But in striking down a key part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the court declared that gay couples married in states where it is legal must receive the same federal health, tax, Social Security and other benefits that heterosexual couples receive.

In turning away a case involving California’s prohibition of same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8, the justices left in place a lower court’s decision that the ban is unconstitutional. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said he would order same-sex marriages to resume as quickly as possible.

The ruling means that same-sex marriage is now sanctioned in 13 states and the District of Columbia — a list representing more than a third of the population of the United States.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joined the court’s four liberals in declaring unconstitutional DOMA’s prohibition on federal recognition of legally married couples — enacted when such unions were only theoretical.

“DOMA writes inequality into the entire United States Code,” wrote Kennedy, who was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Withholding federal recognition of same-sex married couples places them “in an unstable position of being in a second-tier marriage,” Kennedy wrote. “The differentiation demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the Constitution protects . . . and whose relationship the State has sought to dignify.”

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented.

The decisions on the final day of the term set off a loud celebration in front of the court’s marble plaza and elsewhere in the country.

Edith Windsor, a New Yorker who brought the suit against DOMA after she had to pay an estate tax following the death of her wife, Thea Spyer, said she burst into tears upon hearing the court’s decision.

“If I had to survive Thea, what a glorious way to do it, and she would be so pleased,” Windsor said at a news conference.

President Obama, whose administration said it would not defend Section 3 of DOMA, because it believed the provision was unconstitutional, called Windsor and the challengers of Prop. 8 to congratulate them.

In a statement written on Air Force One en route to Africa, Obama said,“This ruling is a victory for couples who have long fought for equal treatment under the law; for children whose parents’ marriages will now be recognized, rightly, as legitimate; for families that, at long last, will get the respect and protection they deserve; and for friends and supporters who have wanted nothing more than to see their loved ones treated fairly and have worked hard to persuade their nation to change for the better.”

 

 

  

Edited June 27, 2013 by Sonic

[Dead Weight]

TLDR

[Guest]

I love lesbians, its only fair for the opposite to be ok.

[GHOZTPRIME]

I'm not stoked about this cuz I'm not gay but good for them.

[Parker]

I've never understood why other people want to meddle in someone else's life, especially for things that don't effect them in the slightest. As much as I detest California, this was a great move on their part, CARB in the other hand... 

 

 

Parker

[Myers]

This doesn't affect me so I don't see why I would be upset about this. It's a shame other people can't feel the same way.

[siuilarun]

Grats to the LGBT community!

[ChickenExotic]

I'm not stoked about this cuz I'm not gay but good for them.

 

 

you dont have to be gay to be happy for them, in the end we are all human, and for humans to begin to understand is a major step, even though this should have happened a long time ago, I say let the gay and lesbians get married so that they can be just as miserable married couples as us straight ppl =P jk, but glad for them, i know a few couples that are overjoyed that they can finally be married. Gays believe it or not really know how to throw bitchin parties and the ladies that go there...MMM MMM MMM!! 

[MxWhiteKnight]

I have no problems with gay people. It's their life, their choice. And as a fellow human being I respect it.

But I DO hate when they try to impose their beliefs on others. Aside from that, I don't care.

[Curb]

inb4 giant shitstorm about the degeneration of our society, "fags" being awful, imposition of beliefs, etc

 

EDIT: lol looks like I was too late

 

 

 

As much as I detest California

 

Well thanks buddy, love you too

Edited June 27, 2013 by Curb

[Wolvie_181]

I have no problems with gay people. It's their life, their choice. And as a fellow human being I respect it.

But I DO hate when they try to impose their beliefs on others. Aside from that, I don't care.

Agreed.