Equality

Today the Supreme Court struck down DOMA (defense of marriage act) and Prop 8. Thus allowing same sex marriages to be viewed as equal to heterosexual marriages in the eyes of federal law, and allowing the state of California to once again legalize same sex marriages.

I really don't have a point to this discussion other than I am very happy today and I am very grateful to all those that fought for the end of discrimination.

Just wanted to share the good news.

Now let the recent theme of "are gays unnatural", "should we support gay right"s, and overall 'let's-talk-about-the-gay-community-in-the-most-argumentative-way-possible' continue. Annnnnnnd...GO!

Nah That's getting old.

Doesn't it still have to come into force on state law? Federal and State law don't automatically become the same thing... so far as my knowledge of American law is concerned... So it would still be possible to be discriminated against...?

It is good news however

Akkarin said

Doesn't it still have to come into force on state law? Federal and State law don't automatically become the same thing... so far as my knowledge of American law is concerned... So it would still be possible to be discriminated against...?

It does indeed have face the will of the states laws, but I am a federal employee so since our marriage is now federally recognized we will receive federal benefits through the military. Which is just lovely!

The details on what this means for civilian couples is still unclear especially with so many states not recognizing same-sex marriage, but hopefully that will all be clarified soon.

As far as I know, that means that couples in states that recognize same-sex marriage will now have their marriages recognized federally (and will be able to receive the federal benefits that come with that). Since the ruling on Prop 8 only applied to California, it is still left up to individual states to determine what counts as a marriage in their state.

Good!

And on the issue of states' rights, I'm for respecting the sovereignty of states, even if things take a turn for the worst.

This is amazing news! Thanks, Megan. Congratulations to you and your wife!

I honestly had no idea how the Supreme Court was going to rule on either DOMA or Prop 8, but am obviously very happy.

As some of you know, I am getting married in July, so this ruling was extremely personal and relevant to me and my future husband (not to mention the relationships and lives of hundreds of thousands of others and their families).

Excerpt from the United States v. Windsor ruling:

"By seeking to injure the very class New York seeks to protect, DOMA violates basic due process and equal protection principles applicable to the Federal Government. The Constitution's guarantee of equality "must at the very least mean that a bare congressional desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot" justify disparate treatment of that group."

What a happy day and a big win for social justice.

A note about the law. Federal recognition covers social security, federal income tax and federal estate tax. Then, as meganrtaylor, said there's federal employee benefits. Now all married couples are recognized by the US federal government. It's still up to the states to define marriage.

In other news, in the UK, if you're married to a foreigner but aren't rich, you don't have a right to a family life. true story.

Ren, what do you mean you don't have a right to a family life?

Too bad the part of DOMA that says states don't have to recognize legal same-sex marriages from other states didn't also get removed. I do support states having the right to make their own marriage laws, but they recognize legal heterosexual marriages from other states, so why not same-sex marriages?