US Supreme Court rules in favour of gay marriage nationwide

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Ecstatic Obama says ruling a ‘victory for America’, says gay and lesbians now have right to marry just like anyone else

The US Supreme Court ruled Friday that gay marriage is a nationwide right, a landmark decision in one of the most keenly awaited announcements in decades and sparking scenes of jubilation.

The nation’s highest court, in a narrow 5-4 decision, said the US Constitution requires all states to carry out and recognize marriage between people of the same sex.

President Barack Obama praised the ruling, in a fresh victory for the White House.

“Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else,” Obama tweeted, as the White House changed its online avatar to the rainbow colors of the gay rights movement.

Flag-waving gay rights advocates outside the courthouse cheered the historic ruling and sang.

“The Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State,” the court said.

The case was brought by 14 same-sex couples who had challenged de facto bans on gay marriage in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

All four states had insisted in their respective constitutions that marriage could only be a union between a man and a woman.

Marriage has been a core institution in society since ancient times, the court said, “but it has not stood in isolation from developments in law and society.”

Excluding them from marriage, it said, denied same-sex couples “the constellation of benefits that the states have linked to marriage.”

The court added: “Marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death.

“It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage… They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

The decision came a year after the Supreme Court, in another major ruling, struck down a controversial federal law that denied US government benefits to wedded gays and lesbians.

“This transformative triumph is a momentous victory for freedom, equality, inclusion, and above all, love,” said Freedom to Marry, one of several groups battling for LGBT marriage rights.

“For the first time in our nation’s history, all loving and committed couples will have the freedom to say, ‘I do’,” it said in a statement.

“We’ll remember this day for the rest of our lives,” added the It Gets Better Project, another gay rights organization, in a mass email to supporters.

Two months ago, people queued for days for a chance to hear the arguments that led to Friday’s ruling, and activists for and against marriage equality rallied in front of the court.

At issue was the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which provides for equal protection under the law.

The nine justices had to decide if this amendment means states are required to recognise marriages that were conducted in other states.

The four states involved in the case, supported by religious and conservative organisations, argued that marriage is based on the biological compatibility of a man and woman.

“VICTORY FOR AMERICA’:

Obama hailed a “gratifying” Supreme Court ruling in favour of gay marriage, saying it shows social changes once thought impossible can be made fact.

“It’s a victory for the allies and friends and supporters who spent years, even decades working and praying for change to come. And this ruling is a victory for America,” he said.

4 COMMENTS

    • Yes, shame on us, the USA, for letting the wicked media guide our voting; shame for allowing the spineless political correctness that stems from a love affair with facebook and other social media to replace the solid moral foundation upon which this country was founded. Shame on us for embracing hedonism as a way of life, abandoning our traditional value system based on Godly principles. Shame on us for placing our own selfish, sinful desires above the wellbeing of our children.
      I am a Patriot, by which I mean I love my country like a father loves his child. But I love my Creator first, and because I love my errant country, I will not give a passive nod to their self-destruction, but stand firm in my beliefs to the end, teaching my American children Godly principles. I struggle to not abandon my prodigal country; that would be wrong: there are those who might be swayed by my stand. But I am so very discouraged and saddened with the path my country is following, though I believe it is inevitable.
      So yes, shame on us, the USA, who once sought God, and now only seek the evil desires of their heart. I pray for us.
      Isaiah 5:20 "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

  1. Shame to those as well who are promoting this news , specially this pathetic Pakistani media.

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