Gay Marriage May Be Legal Across U.S. After Supreme Court Review - Bloomberg

Contents:

• ‘IT IS SO ORRED.’ SUPREME COURT JTIC ON GAY MARRIAGE CISN
• SUPREME COURT RUL GAY MARRIAGE IS A NATNWI RIGHT
• THE SUPREME COURT AND GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE MAY BE LEGAL ACROSS U.S. AFTER SUPREME COURT REVIEW

‘IT IS SO ORRED.’ SUPREME COURT JTIC ON GAY MARRIAGE CISN

In 1981, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnership, which also granted hospal visatn rights and other benefs. In 2010, Massachetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, found Sectn 3 of DOMA that fed marriage as a unn between one man and one woman to be unnstutnal, 2013, Uned Stat v. By 2015 (the year Obergefell was cid) thirty-six stat already issued marriage licens to same-sex upl and more than 20 unti around the world had already legalized gay marriage, startg wh the Netherlands 2000.

Judge Heyburn held that “homosexual persons nstute a quasi-spect class, ” and clared that Kentucky’s law banng same-sex marriag vlat the Equal Protectn Clse of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Uned Stat Constutn. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTPooja Mandagere, left, and Natalie Thompson outsi the Supreme Court on Friday after led favor of same-sex Mills/The New York TimSli 1 of 14 Pooja Mandagere, left, and Natalie Thompson outsi the Supreme Court on Friday after led favor of same-sex Mills/The New York TimJune 26, 2015WASHINGTON — In a long-sought victory for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court led by a 5-to-4 vote on Friday that the Constutn guarante a right to same-sex marriage. ”Gay rights advot had nstcted a reful ligatn and public relatns strategy to build momentum and brg the issue to the Supreme Court when appeared ready to le their favor.

Gay rights advot, the chief jtice wrote, would have been better off wh a victory achieved through the polil procs, particularly “when the wds of change were heng at their backs. The send se also volv a feral appeals urt cisn – this one strikg down Proposn 8, a ballot iative approved by California voters 2008 that amends the state nstutn to ban gay marriage.

SUPREME COURT RUL GAY MARRIAGE IS A NATNWI RIGHT

) The most signifint state urt cisn me 2003, when the Massachetts Supreme Judicial Court (the state’s hight urt) led that the state’s nstutn granted gays and lbians the right to marry. The Wdsor se primarily volv a dispute over discrimatn agast a mory group – gays and lbians – and do not directly addrs the qutn of whether the Constutn requir stat to allow same-sex marriage.

The Proposn 8 se, ntrast, volv a cisn by a state ( this se, California) to prohib gays and lbians om marryg and so might, theory, provi the urt wh a better vehicle for lg on whether the nstutn requir the stat to regnize same-sex marriage.

However, even Perry, the high urt uld end up si-steppg the most important nstutnal qutns and le more narrowly to uphold or strike down California’s ban on gay marriage.

THE SUPREME COURT AND GAY MARRIAGE

The law ntas two major provisns: The first (Sectn 2 of the law) giv stat that do not allow gay marriage the thory to refe to regnize same-sex marriag that have been legally performed other stat. Specifilly, the urt Wdsor led that a statute that discrimat agast homosexuals is unnstutnal unls the ernment n show that fact advanc an important public policy purpose – a judicial benchmark known as a “standard of review. Instead, the panel termed that would e a tougher standard of review – known as “termediate scty” – bee, argued, gays and lbians had long been the objects of signifint discrimatn and prejudice.

Even though termediate scty is a tougher standard of review than had prevly been employed gay rights s, do not offer the hight level of nstutnal protectn for groups that have tradnally suffered om discrimatn. The send se the Supreme Court will nsir volv a challenge to Proposn 8, the ballot measure approved by California voters November 2008 that amend the state nstutn to ban gay marriage. Although a voter-approved referendum (such as Proposn 8) serv great ference, Walker wrote, the ban on same-sex marriage blatantly discrimat agast a certa group of cizens – gays and lbians – and vlat their fundamental right to marry and their equal protectn rights, both of which are guaranteed unr the U.

In Walker’s view, Proposn 8 had been prompted by people’s moral disapproval of homosexualy, and that alone, he nclud, was not enough to jtify the enactment of a blatantly discrimatory law. In addn, Wdsor giv the urt an opportuny – one may ci not to exercise – to addrs the qutn of what is the appropriate standard of review s volvg discrimatn agast gays and lbians. An unfavorable oute for gay-marriage supporters on the broad qutn of whether the Constutn guarante same-sex upl the right to marry would be difficult to overturn the future.

GAY MARRIAGE

By ntrast, a lg that clar a nstutnal right to gay marriage would immediately require all stat to perm same-sex marriage on precisely the same terms as they perm oppose-sex marriage. Evans, the Supreme Court stck down an amendment to the Colorado Constutn (approved by the state’s voters 1992) that nullified state and lol anti-discrimatn protectns for gays and lbians and prohibed passage of any such anti-discrimatn laws the future.

Both sis’ posns have been aired out thoroughly and repeatedly for several as ual, the oute almost certaly li the hands of Jtice Anthony Kennedy, who has thored all three of the urt’s prev cisns upholdg gay rights. Jtice Anton Slia, who has voted agast nstutnal protectns for gays and lbians at every opportuny, foraw this moment more than a ago, when the urt reversed s own precent and banned state anti-sodomy laws. If stat may not e laws to exprs moral disapproval of homosexual nduct, he wrote dissent, “what jtifitn uld there possibly be for nyg the benefs of marriage to homosexual upl exercisg the liberty protected by the Constutn?

Early Years: Same-Sex Marriage Bans In 1970, jt one year after the historic Stonewall Rts that galvanized the gay rights movement, law stunt Richard Baker and librarian Jam McConnell applied for a marriage license Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn. ” This lg effectively blocked feral urts om lg on same-sex marriage for s, leavg the cisn solely the hands of stat, which alt blow after blow to those hopg to see gay marriage beg 1973, for stance, Maryland beme the first state to create a law that explicly f marriage as a unn between a man and woman, a belief held by many nservative relig groups. Though the gay rights movement saw some advancements the 1970s and 1980s—such as Harvey Milk beg the first openly gay man elected to public office the untry 1977—the fight for gay marriage ma ltle headway for many years.

GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

In 1989, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnerships, which granted hospal visatn rights and other years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners. C., 1993, the hight urt Hawaii led that a ban on same-sex marriage may vlate that state nstutn’s Equal Protectn Clse—the first time a state urt has ever ched toward makg gay marriage Hawaii Supreme Court sent the se—brought by a gay male uple and two lbian upl who were nied marriage licens 1990—back for further review to the lower First Circu Court, which 1991 origally dismissed the the state tried to prove that there was “pellg state tert” jtifyg the ban, the se would be tied up ligatn for the next three Defense of Marriage Act Opponents of gay marriage, however, did not s on their hnch. Congrs 1996 passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Print Bill Clton signed to didn’t ban gay marriage outright but specified that only heterosexual upl uld be granted feral marriage benefs.

That is, even if a state ma gay marriage legal, same-sex upl still wouldn’t be able to file e tax jotly, sponsor spo for immigratn benefs or receive spoal Social Secury payments, among many other act was a huge setback for the marriage equaly movement, but transient good news arose three months later: Hawaii Judge Kev S. Phg for Change: Civil Unns The next saw a whirlwd of activy on the gay marriage ont, begng wh the year 2000 when Vermont beme the first state to legalize civil unns, a legal stat that provis most of the state-level benefs of years later, Massachetts beme the first state to legalize gay marriage when the Massachetts Supreme Court led that same-sex upl had the right to marry Goodridge v. 2004 was notable for upl many other stat as well, though for the oppose reason: Ten typilly nservative stat, along wh Oregon, enacted state-level bans on gay marriage.

Kansas and Texas were next 2005, and 2006 saw seven more stat passg Constutnal amendments agast gay towards the end of the , gay marriage beme legal var stat, cludg Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (the first state to approve by legislative means) and New Hampshire. Domtic Partnerships Throughout the and the begng of the next, California equently ma headl for seawg on the gay marriage state was the first to pass a domtic partnership statute 1999, and legislators tried to pass a same-sex marriage bill 2005 and 2007.

GAY MARRIAGE MAY BE LEGAL ACROSS U.S. AFTER SUPREME COURT REVIEW

For the first time the untry’s history, voters (rather than judg or legislators) Mae, Maryland, and Washgton approved Constutnal amendments permtg same-sex marriage marriage also beme a feral issue 2010, Massachetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, found Sectn 3 of DOMA—the part of the 1996 law that fed marriage as a unn between one man and one woman—to be unnstutnal.

Wdsor, nservative Jtice Anthony Kennedy sid wh Jtic Ruth Bar Gsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately makg gay marriage legal across the natn June this time, was still outlawed only 13 stat, and more than 20 other untri had already legalized gay marriage, startg wh the Netherlands December 2000. ImageLorie Smh said her Christian fah requir her to turn away ctomers seekg servic to celebrate same-sex Woolf for The New York TimThe Supreme Court sid on Friday wh a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refe to sign weddg webs for same-sex upl spe a state law that forbids discrimatn agast gay people. ’”The se, though amed as a clash between ee speech and gay rights, was the latt a seri of cisns favor of relig people and groups, notably nservative cisn also appeared to suggt that the rights of L.