Though the Supreme Court has settled the legality of same-sex marriage, a third of Americans are opposed to it.
But support for gay marriage has gradually increased over the past two decades, reaching majority support with new groups, as it did with senior citizens in 2016 and Protestants this year. Republicans' support for gay marriage is also at a new high and could trend toward majority support in the near future.It is worth noting that nearly two years after Obergefell legalize same-sex marriage that a full third of respondents think it should be illegal.
LESLEY STAHL: Well, I guess the issue for them is marriage equality. Do you support marriage equality?
DONALD TRUMP: It---it's irrelevant because it was already settled. It's law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it's done.
LESLEY STAHL: So, even if you appoint a judge that---
DONALD TRUMP: It's done. It -- you have -- these cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They've been settled. And--I'm--I'm fine with that.
I always believed we would win, but what a joy and relief it was when our victory came. As I read the Supreme Court opinion, as I followed the stories across the country of couples getting married, and as so many people wrote me with wonder, attaching pictures of their families, their kids, their weddings ... well, I cried and cried again.
We won. We did it. The freedom to marry is now the law of the land throughout our whole country. At long last, loving and committed same-sex couples are able to share in the joy, the protections, the vocabulary, and the institution of marriage.
We've been fighting this campaign for decades, and not a single step has come easily. To overcome the obstacles and to seize the opportunities, with stumbles and then successes, we built a machine that could guide and leverage a movement, driving a strategy — and machines take fuel. Without your support, this transformation and triumph would not have happened.
And our win is America's win. Love won. We all did.
Now — as Freedom to Marry prepares to wind down — we must remember that there's still much work to do in our own LGBT movement and in the broader movements we are part of.
I am grateful to my incomparable Freedom to Marry team, our close movement colleagues, the entire family of supporters and partners in the work, our allies, and our country. How lucky we are to see our work rewarded with the change and victory we sought and deserved.
All that's left is to say, with all my heart, is congratulations — mazel tov! — and thank you.
Evan WolfsonFounder, Freedom to MarryCongrats!
With a resounding vote in favor, Ireland now becomes the first country in the world to pass the freedom to marry by popular referendum, as well as the 21st nation and the 10th predominantly Catholic country in which same-sex couples can marry. Our Irish colleagues at Yes Equality ran a magnificent campaign and Freedom to Marry is proud to have shared what we’ve learned in our own campaign here in the US. The global momentum for the freedom to marry reflects and reinforces the progress we are making here in the United States – and we look now to the Supreme Court to bring our country to national resolution, following Ireland’s good example.Ireland is now the 21st country where same-sex couples have an equal right to marry.
Eighteen countries have approved the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide (Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, France, Brazil, Uruguay, New Zealand, Britain, Luxembourg, Finland and now Ireland), while two others have regional or court-directed provisions enabling same-sex couples to share in the freedom to marry (Mexico and the United States). In Slovenia, Parliament approved a marriage bill in March 2015 and is headed to the president's desk.Woo hoo!
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On January 16, the United States Supreme Court announced that this year, they will hear arguments in a case on the question of whether same-sex couples should have the freedom to marry and if anti-marriage laws nationwide should be struck down as unconstitutional. The Court granted review of an out-of-step ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which ruled in November against the freedom to marry in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. In each of these cases, federal judges had ruled in favor of the freedom to marry for all, and the 6th Circuit reversed each decision.
The arguments are in the cases Obergefell v. Hodges from Ohio, Tanco v. Haslam from Tennessee, DeBoer v. Snyder from Michigan, and Bourke v. Beshear from Kentucky. The states' response briefs are due March 17, and final reply briefs are due April 17.
Accordingly, the Court once again makes the following declaration: It is ORDERED and DECLARED that ALA. CONST. ART. I, § 36.03 (2006) and ALA. CODE 1975 § 30-1-19 are unconstitutional because they violate the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Probate Judge Don Davis is hereby ENJOINED from refusing to issue marriage licenses to plaintiffs due to the Alabama laws which prohibit same-sex marriage. If Plaintiffs take all steps that are required in the normal course of business as a prerequisite to issuing a marriage license to opposite-sex couples, Judge Davis may not deny them a license on the ground that Plaintiffs constitute same-sex couples or because it is prohibited by the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment and the Alabama Marriage Protection Act or by any other Alabama law or Order pertaining to same-sex marriage. This injunction binds Judge Don Davis and all his officers, agents, servants and employees, and others in active concert or participation with any of them, who would seek to enforce the marriage laws of Alabama which prohibit or fail to recognize same-sex marriage. DONE and ORDERED this 12th day of February, 2015.Boom!
1) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? 2) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?It is likely there will be oral arguments in April (90 minutes on Question 1, 60 minutes on Question 2) and a final decision issued in the case(s) by June 2015.
The preliminary injunction now in effect thus does not require the Clerk to issue licenses to other applicants. But as set out in the order that announced issuance of the preliminary injunction, the Constitution requires the Clerk to issue such licenses. As in any other instance involving parties not now before the court, the Clerk’s obligation to follow the law arises from sources other than the preliminary injunction.Hat/tip to Joe Jervis
The Court hereby DECLARES that Montana’s laws that ban same-sex marriage, including Article XIII, section 7 of the Montana Constitution, and Montana Code Annotated section 40-1-103 and section 40-1-401, violate Plaintiffs’ rights to equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court PERMANENTLY ENJOINS the State of Montana and its officers, employees, agents, and political subdivisions from enforcing Article XIII, section 7 of the Montana Constitution, Montana Code Annotated section 40-1-103 and section 40-1-401, and any other laws or regulations, to the extent that they prohibit otherwise qualified same-sex couples from marrying in Montana, and to the extent that they do not recognize same-sex marriages validly contracted outside Montana. This injunction shall take effect immediately.That makes it pretty clear that same-sex couples can get married in Big Sky Country now! (There is no stay on the order.) The Democratic Governor of Montana Steve Bullock praised the decision while the Republican Attorney General (named defendant) Tim Fox announced that he would appeal the decision (presumably to the Ninth Circuit, which has already ruled that marriage equality is required under federal law, and then to the Supreme Court, which has previously refused to issue stays on the effect of marriage equality rulings from the 9th Circuit.
Montana’s laws that ban same-sex marriage impose a “disfavored legal status” on same-sex couples. The time has come for Montana to follow all the other states within the Ninth Circuit and recognize that laws that ban same-sex marriage violate the constitutional right of same-sex couples to equal protection of the laws. Today Montana becomes the thirty-fourth state to permit same-sex marriage.And so it goes...
We have appealed the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court. The constitutional challenge to Missouri's historically recognized right to define marriage must be presented to and resolved by the state's highest court. Following decisions in Idaho and Alaska, the United States Supreme Court has refused to grant stays on identical facts. We will not seek a stay of this court’s order when the United States Supreme Court has ruled none should be granted.Hopefully the state Supreme Court will issue a speedy ruling on the issue. Missouri is in the 8th circuit, which is one of the few federal appellate circuits which has not ruled on the question of whether state bans on marriage equality violate the federal constitution. The current case is in the state system but presumably there are parallel legal avenues ongoing in the federal system.
