Yesterday. the Supreme Court made those of us who support marriage equality very happy, and they really didn’t have to do anything at all. Five states- Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Utah- all had pending suits to have their bans on marriage equality upheld. The Supreme Court chose not to hear those cases, effectively making the rulings of the lower courts law, and meaning that marriage equality is legal in those states pretty much immediately.
Those are not the only states affected by the Supreme Court’s rejection of those cases, though. Other states that are ruled by that court will be affected as well. Virginia is in the Fourth?Circuit, which means that the other states ruled by that court- West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina- will be affected by this decision. In short, those states will soon have marriage equality. Utah and Oklahoma are both ruled by the Tenth Circuit court, which means that marriage equality will soon be legal in Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. So, in other words, marriage equality is immediately legal in five more states as of yesterday, and will quickly become law in six others by default.
Now, do not expect this to be smooth sailing. As happy as we are, we already have people pushing back against what is happening. South Carolina’s Attorney General, Alan Wilson, has already vowed to continue to try to uphold the state’s ban on marriage equality, and, further because many of the states affected by this refusal to hear these cases are traditionally very conservative, ?we can expect more of the same kind of backlash.
Despite the inevitable gnashing of teeth, though, the law will stand. All that will ?happen is that taxpayer money will be wasted fighting something that is, essentially, the law of the land at this point. Once marriage licenses are issued in the states affected by the Supreme Court’s inaction, we can start working on the remaining twenty states.
Let us know your thoughts at the Liberal America Facebook page. Sign up for our free daily newsletter to receive more great stories like this one.
