Everybody Must Get Stonewalled
One case was decided on technical grounds, and the justices stopped short of calling same-sex marriage a constitutional right, but today’s Supreme Court decisions mark a huge step forward for equality. California will become the 13th state to legalize gay marriage (again), and the Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act — a federal law that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment.”
+ From WaPo: The Court stuck down DOMA. Here’s what you need to know.
+ Today’s court rulings seem to follow public opinion trends. The most recent polls suggest about 58% of Americans want to legalize gay marriage. That marks a huge swing over the last few decades. Consider that in 1977, 43% of those polled believed that homosexual relations between consenting adults should be illegal. From The Week: A Timeline of America’s gay-marriage evolution.
+ If you type the word “gay” into Google, your search box turns rainbow. That support shouldn’t surprise anyone. Silicon Valley’s big tech companies made their decision on rights for gay couples long before the Supreme Court.