June 26, 2015
More Politics:
The Supreme Court of the United States of America has ruled in a 5-4 decision that same sex couples have a fundamental right to marry. Wow! Gay marriage is now legal in every state in the USA!
It is now a constitutional right for same sex couples to get married. This means that it will be extremely difficult to overturn the decision. It would take another challenge that makes it all the way to the Supreme Court and another ruling to overturn this one. The only other way to reverse the decision would be through a constitutional amendment which would be pretty much impossible.
As far as discrimination goes, it will be interesting to see if more lawsuits get filed against businesses and religious institutions. I could easily see how some gay couples would sue a church or a pastor for being unwilling to marry them. Although I don’t think this is a good idea at all. Trying to force religious institutions to do something that they are opposed to through the law is not a good plan.
All those statewide same sex marriage bans and defense of marriage acts are now invalid. It would not surprise me if certain individuals in those places still choose not to issue marriage licenses while they claim that it goes against their religious or moral beliefs. Of course, over time they will find they are on the losing side of the law and will be compelled to issue them.
Marital benefits should be implemented very quickly. Anyone that serves/served in the military should now be able to have their partner receive spousal benefits. Same goes for government employees and employees in private sector jobs. Health insurance, death benefits and hospital visitation rights should now apply to same sex couples.
The Obergefell v. Hodges ruling is so monumental it is hard to completely grasp the full impact of the decision. Effective immediately, all states must issue marriage licenses to same sex couples and must recognize licenses issued in any other jurisdiction. Unbelievable!
