Breaking News: U.S. Supreme Court Legalizes Marriage for Same-Sex Couples Across the Nation

The [U.S.] Supreme Court has found a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, striking down bans in 14 states and handing a historic victory to the gay rights movement that would have been unthinkable just 10 years ago.

Anthony Kennedy, a conservative [and Catholic] justice who has broken with his ideological colleagues to author several decisions expanding rights for LGBT people, again sided with the court’s four liberals to strike down the state bans. The majority ruled that preventing same-sex people from marrying violated their constitutional right to equal protection under the law and that the states were unable to put forth a compelling reason to withhold that right from people.

The United States is now just the 21st country in the world to allow same-sex marriage in every jurisdiction.

. . . Friday’s ruling also could have a big effect on religious institutions that have maintained their opposition to same-sex marriage. Religious schools that refuse to provide housing for same-sex couples couldface lawsuits and lose their tax-exempt status, for example. (Religious clergy will not have to marry same-sex couples, however.) Some states will most likely respond to this ruling by attempting to pass legislation to exempt people who oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds, such as the controversial Indiana law that passed in March.

The gay rights movement, meanwhile, will move on to employment discrimination. Activists want a federal law that forbids discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation.

– Liz Goodwin and Meredith Shiner
Excerpted from "Supreme Court Affirms Right to Gay Marriage"
Yahoo! News
June 26, 2015

Related Off-site Links:
Same-Sex Marriage is a Right, Supreme Court Rules, 5-4 – Adam Liptak (The New York Times, June 26, 2015).
Read the 7 Most Memorable Passages in the Gay Marriage Decision – Ryan Teague Beckwith (Time, June 26, 2015).
Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage Legal In All 50 States – Bill Chappell (National Public Radio News, June 26, 2015).
Supreme Court Rules Gay Couples Nationwide Have a Right to Marry – Robert Barnes (The Washington Post, June 26, 2015).
Gay Marriage Declared Legal Across the US in Historic Supreme Court Ruling – Dan Roberts and Sabrina Siddiqui (The Guardian, June 26, 2015).
Supreme Court Legalizes Marriage for Same-Sex Couples Nationwide – Dana Liebelson and Amanda Terkel (The Huffington Post, June 26, 2015).
New Ways Ministry and U.S. Catholics Rejoice at Supreme Court Marriage Equality Decision – Francis D. DeBernardo (Bondings 2.0, June 26, 2015).
Rejoicing the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision on Marriage Equality – Muslims for Progressive Values (PRLog, June 26, 2015).
Same-Sex Couples Flood Marriage Offices Around the Country – Neal Broverman (The Advocate, June 26, 2015).
Hey America, Great Job on Gay Marriage, Now How About Gay Adoption? – Sanjeev K. Sriram (The Huffington Post, June 26, 2015).
What Should the U.S. Bishops Do Now That All 50 States Will Have Marriage Equality? – Francis DeBernardo (Crux, June 26, 2015).
Catholic Responses to the Supreme Court Ruling on Marriage: Everything from "a Win for Love" to "a Tragic Error" – Vinnie Rotondaro (National Catholic Reporter, June 26, 2015).
When Love Wins Everywhere Except the Church – David R. Henson (Patheos, June 26, 2015).
Celebrating the Arc of the Moral Universe – Steve Benen (MSNBC, June 26, 2015).

UPDATE: Questions for Archbishop Kurtz re. the U.S. Bishops' Response to the Supreme Court's Marriage Equality Ruling – The Editorial Board (The Progressive Catholic Voice, June 27, 2015).