“The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty.”
Justice Anthony Kennedy, Opinion of the Court
Obergefell v. Hodges
June 26, 2015
Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled – properly –
that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. DOMA
had essentially said U.S. jurisdictions were not obligated to recognize
same-sex marriages that were legally established in other jurisdictions. This
inconsistency was unfair – after all, marriage is essentially a contract according to the
government, and that contract should be recognized by all states and
territories.
It should have come to the surprise of no one, then, when
the Court ruled to legalize same-sex marriage today. Yes, I know many of you with
traditional values see marriage as a sacred union between one man and one
woman. But the Supreme Court got this ruling correct, particularly when you
consider its 2013 ruling on DOMA.
Personally, I’d rather not have my government in the
marriage business at all, but that was not the issue argued before the Supreme
Court. Though the debate about the continued weakening of states’ rights will
continue, and justifiably so, there was judicial activism overriding the will
of the people in some states and popular votes redefining marriage in others. The
same-sex marriage debate needed to be answered on a national level.
Same-sex marriage has been a national talking point for some
time. Many public figures – President Barack Obama and former Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton among them – have changed their views on this
controversial topic to fit the political climate. (If you don’t believe me,
review their 2008 debates, where both were strongly committed to the idea that
marriage was a union between one man and one woman.) And let us not forget that
President Bill Clinton signed DOMA into law in 1996. Of course, plenty of
regular folks have had a change of heart as well.
But not everyone. Before the Supreme Court ruling, same-sex
marriage was still banned in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, Michigan,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and
South Dakota. Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first states to
actually approve same-sex marriage by popular vote (in late 2012 and early
2013). Maryland passed the measure by just 51.9 percent, after a similar
referendum failed in Maine in 2009. In several states where same-sex marriage
was legalized in recent years, it was the result of judicial activism or
legislators, not voters. Previously, voters in several other states banned
same-sex unions by constitutional amendment as recently as 2008 – and usually
by a significant majority. Many of those amendments were later ruled
unconstitutional; in fact, 16 of the 37 states that recognized same-sex
marriage did so through the courts.
So, while same-sex marriage may now be protected by the U.S.
Constitution, it is far from universally embraced throughout the country. The
Court’s close 5-4 decision serves to illustrate this point. It is also not
universally acknowledged by churches throughout the country, which means this
is not the end of same-sex marriage legislation. When a same-sex couple decides
to take a church to court for refusing to perform a wedding ceremony, freedom
of religion will become the next battleground. Despite the assurance that “religious
organizations and persons are given proper protection” in the Opinion of the
Court, the lawsuits are coming, and it will likely get very nasty very quickly.
Also coming soon: polygamy, polyandry, and group marriage.
Same-sex marriage is a huge victory for people who want to be married to
multiple people at the same time. You have to wonder how long proponents will
wait until they demand equal rights. Not long, I suspect.
Remember, there are no take-backs on this one. Once you
redefine marriage for one group of consenting adults, you cannot reasonably make
a case against redefining it again for another group of consenting adults. The
Supreme Court has redefined a fundamental right, and others will line up for
equality.
For those who cannot seem to accept the opinion of the
Court, it is important to realize that not everyone out there defines marriage
the same way you do, or defines homosexual behavior as immoral or even
unnatural. Remember, some religions do not even recognize the Bible as the Word
of God. Once you accept that people of different faiths – even institutions
based on variations of your own core religious beliefs – can define marriage
differently than you do, perhaps it will make the decision more palatable.
If not, just consider same-sex marriage as a chance to
collect more taxes on new contracts in the form of marriage license fees, as
well as an economic boon for wedding planners and divorce attorneys. Also,
realize that none of this reduces the value of your heterosexual marriage, just
as it has not reduced the value of heterosexual marriage in more than a dozen
other countries around the world. (Yes, this is a landmark ruling here, but we
are not the first country to legalize same-sex marriage.)
Finally, if you truly believe same-sex marriage is a sin, say
a prayer to your God, be he Hairy Thunderer or Cosmic Muffin, and leave the
judging to him. I will not admonish you for your beliefs, and I will not demand
your church, temple, or mosque conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies. I would request,
however, that you respect that some people have found love, even if it is not
the love you would choose for yourself, and can now express that love within a
legal union.
