Same-sex marriage was legalized in all states today by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a ruling today, the Supreme Court decided that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution required 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.
Today’s decision is considered to be a landmark ruling. It was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,” Kennedy wrote. “The petitioners in these cases seek to find that liberty by marrying someone of the same sex and having their marriages deemed lawful on the same terms and conditions as marriages between persons of the opposite sex.”
In Wyandotte County, gay couples began to marry legally last fall. However, several states including Kansas had challenged gay marriage.
On the news of the Supreme Court’s ruling today, Unified Government Mayor Mark Holland released this statement:
“I celebrate today with our LGBT brothers and sisters all over America at the Supreme Court’s historic decision legalizing marriage for all people! This is one of the great civil rights moments in our nation as we finally recognize that marriage is an institution based on love and should be available to everyone.
“The United States has always been a beacon of light for freedom and equality to the world. At a time when LGBT persons face discrimination, hatred, and even death in other countries, the United States now stands tall as a leader for justice.
“Let us now commit ourselves to the ongoing work of justice for others who remain the least, the last, and the lost, because, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’” – Mayor Mark Holland
Today’s Supreme Court ruling is online at http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf.