As you have probably noticed throughout this chapter, laws and regulations surrounding people’s rights are influenced by politics. When social support and political pressure grow around a certain topic, laws are put into place to make changes which provide rights that did not exist in the past. A current-

day example of this type of law and policy in the making is that of the United States and gay marriage. After many years of sidestepping the issue, or taking on smaller pieces of the issue, the Supreme Court agreed to hear cases and deliberate on the constitutionality of gay marriage in 2015 (The Editorial Board, 2015).

In 2015, the court deliberated over four cases from different states (Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan) in which same-sex union bans were supported in the Court of Appeals. In doing so, they took on the wide question of the constitutionality of same-sex marriage (The Editorial Board, 2015).

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that state gay marriage bans in the United States were illegal. They upheld gay marriage, thereby making it legal across the United States. In a 5–4 ruling, Justice Kennedy delivered the majority opinion and stated that “their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions.

They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right” (de Vogue & Diamond, 2015). For gay couples, this is a civil right they have long awaited.

Justice Kennedy wrote “No longer may this liberty be denied... No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family” (Liptak, 2015). Chief Justice Roberts wrote the dissenting opinion and stated “The court invalidates the marriage laws of more than half the states and orders the transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia, for the Kalahari Bushmen and the Han Chinese, the Carthaginians and the Aztecs . . .

Just who do we think we are?” (Liptak, 2015).

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you believe same-sex marriage will be socially accepted now that the Supreme Court has upheld it?

2. Does the Supreme Court decision upholding gay marriage mean discrimination against gays is over? Why or why not?

3. Why do you think it took so long for the Supreme Court to make a decision on the constitutionality of gay marriage and gay marriage bans?