In two historic legal victories for LGBT equality, the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a key portion of the Defense of Marriage Act and restored same-sex marriage to California. However, the rulings are expected to have minimal immediate impact in states like Texas with constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.
The high court ruled in separate cases that the section of DOMA prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, and that supporters of California’s Proposition 8 lacked standing to appeal a district court’s ruling that threw out the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The ruling in the Proposition 8 case means same-sex marriage likely will resume in California, but the decision won’t bring marriage equality to other states.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said the decisions “put two giant cracks in the dark wall of discrimination that separates committed gay and lesbian couples from full equality.”
“While we celebrate the victory for Californians today, tomorrow we turn our attention to the millions of LGBT people who don’t feel the reach of these decisions,” Griffin said. “From the Rocky Mountains to the heart of the South, it’s time to push equality forward until every American can marry the person they love and all LGBT people are guaranteed equal protection under the law.
“These decisions underscore the emergence of two Americas,” Griffin added. “In one, LGBT citizens are nearing full equality. In the other, our community lacks even the most basic protections. Everywhere that injustice still prevails, we will fight for justice. And our message to those who cement their feet on the wrong side of history is that we will win.”
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Under the Prop 8 ruling, California will join 12 other states and the nation’s capital in recognizing the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. As the nation’s most populous state, California substantially increases the number of Americans — approximately 94 million people, or 30 percent of the U.S. population — who live in a state with marriage equality, according to the American Foundation for Equal Rights.
In the DOMA case, the court ruled the law is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment. According to legal experts, the DOMA ruling means those who live in marriage-equality states will be eligible for federal marriage benefits, such as Social Security and taxes. However, those who live in non-marriage equality states such as Texas will not be.
“DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled to recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty,” reads the court’s 5-4 majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy and joined by the four liberal justices of the court. The Prop 8 cases was also dismissed on a 5-4 vote, led by Chief Justice John Roberts.
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Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said the decisions represent a “significant leap forward for freedom and justice.” But Carey added that “a lot more work needs to be done to deliver marriage equality to the rest of our nation’s same-sex couples and their families and full equality in every other respect for all LGBT people.”
“These rulings mean stronger families and communities across our nation: Millions of same-sex married couples will gain access to all of the benefits associated with marriage. These include: health care, Social Security, housing and income security — all key components of the American Dream,” Carey said. “However, those legally married same-sex couples (and widows or widowers) who have moved to — or now live in — a state that discriminates against their marriages, may face barriers to their federal marital protections. We will fight this.
“Now is not the time to be complacent on other LGBT-related issues,” Carey added. “ While we welcome marriage equality again in California, we know there are couples in 37 states who still lack the ability to get married in their own state and we still live in a world where a married LGBT person can go to work and get fired for who they are or who they love — and there are other issues that impact the lives of LGBT people that the ability to marry doesn’t resolve.”
The full opinion in the DOMA case can be found here. The Prop 8 decision can be found here.
The Dallas LGBT community will gather at 7 p.m. today for a Day of Decision rally to commemorate the historic rulings. The rally will be at the Legacy of Love Monument, at Oak Lawn Avenue and Cedar Springs Road. For more info, go here. For info on Day of Decision rallies in other cities, go here.
For full coverage of the court’s decisions, the Day of Decision rallies and more, see Friday’s Dallas Voice.
