The law excluding the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by states, known as the Defense of Marriage Act, was brought down in the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning.
The Supreme Court ruled DOMA as unconstitutional in a 5-4 vote. Justice Anthony Kennedy announced the court’s decision and was accompanied by justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
“DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment,” wrote Kennedy in the Supreme Court’s majority statement. “By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment.”
Along with the DOMA decision, the Supreme Court chose to not take up a challenge of California’s Proposition 8, claiming that the proposition had no legal standing to be case brought forward to the Court. With the new Court Decision, California is now able to resume having same-sex marriages.
With the new rulings on DOMA and Prop 8, states such as Oregon that haven’t legalized same-sex marriage now have the support of the federal government behind them on the issue of marriage equality. But no matter what courts or states think of same-sex marriage, any change that’s made to marriage equality comes down to the people, and their power and willingness to either make a change or stay the same.
“There’ll still be a battle against this decision — no doubt about it,” said Nina Nolen, a volunteer for the Women’s Center and the ASUO Senate liaison for the center. “What’s important is that we have the decision, and that’s going to be the ultimate push for other states to go about legalizing same-sex marriage.”
The reaction from social media has been positive for the Supreme Court’s ruling, but affluent groups such as the National Organization of Marriage (a group formed in 2007, who’s specific goal was to pass Prop 8) are showing their opposition to the new ruling. NOM’s current President, Brian Brown was in front of the Supreme Court during the ruling, and according to The New York Times, Brown is pressing forward for a federal ban on same-sex marriage which was last brought up during President Bush’s 2004 election.
“It’s a big leap for the LGBT in our country, and I initially gave myself permission to be really excited,” said Maure Smith, assistant director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Education and Support Services Program. “I’m really excited, but I know things are about to get complicatd.”
Smith was married to her partner four years ago in Boston, Massachusetts. It was important to her and her partner to be married under the court of law, even if they knew it wasn’t going to last. “When we married in Boston we knew it wasn’t going to matter, but it was still really important to us.”
Smith and her partner moved to Oregon knowing their relationship would have to be considered a domestic partnership due to Oregon’s Measure 36, which is essentially the state’s version of Prop 8.
Smith is hopeful that with the new ruling, laws like Measure 36 will be invalidated come November and that this will hopefully lead to more change for the LGBT community.
“The hope is that states with domestic partnership will be the first ones to change their policies,” Smith said. “I’m so excited for this hopeful change, but it’s important to keep in mind that this still isn’t enough to end the violence and discrimination against the LGBT community in schools. That needs to go just as much as DOMA needed to go.”
The American Civil Liberties Union and Oregon United for Marriage are hosting a rally at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza on the corner of 8th Avenue and Oak Street today at 5 p.m. on the matter.