The image above is from the Texas Democratic Party. I have not used it before, because even though a federal court had declared Texas' ban on same-sex marriages to be unconstitutional, the state was still not allowing those marriages (in the hope the decision would be overturned by the Supreme Court). But I proudly use the image today. The Supreme Court has made its decision -- and it came down on the side of equal rights for all citizens.
I have to admit I was nervous waiting for the decision, but not really surprised. I have said several times on this blog that I thought the Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia demanded the Supreme Court make this decision. In that decision, the court said marriage was a "constitutional right" -- and therefore could not be denied to interracial couples. If interracial couples had the constitutional right to be married, how could that constitutional right be denied to same-sex couples?
It couldn't, and Justice Kennedy used the Loving v. Virginia decision as the basis of this Supreme Court decision. As he wrote, constitutional rights cannot be decided by state legislatures or by a vote of the majority in any state. These rights are guaranteed, and therefore must be protected by the court.
Some states, ruled by teabagger politicians, will probably try to delay the implementation of this decision, but that doesn't matter. It is now LAW, and the federal courts will quickly bring them into compliance. And that will happen quickly, because there is no legitimate reason for delay.
I know some are complaining the this decision tramples on their religious freedom rights. That is ludicrous. No one is being forced into a same-sex marriage, no minister or church is being forced to perform those marriages, and someone else's same-sex marriage does nothing to harm anyone's marriage (or the institution of marriage). The only thing this decision does is give same-sex couples the same rights that opposite-sex couples have in this country.
This decision was a giant step toward the granting of equal rights to all U.S. citizens -- but it is not the end of the fight for those rights. There is still much work to be done in assuring equal rights for the LGBT community, as well as minorities and women. Now we must finish the job.
