US Supreme Court to decide on gay marriage

US Supreme Court to decide on gay marriage

The US Supreme Court has announced that it will hear two same-sex marriage cases in 2013 which could result in striking down of both the discriminatory federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s gay marriage ban, Proposition 8.

One of the cases the court will hear concerns a same-sex couple from New York – Edith Windsor and Thea Clara Spyer – who were married in Canada in 2007, shortly before Spyer died in 2009. Windsor inherited her property but was forced to pay a tax bill of US$360,000 because their marriage was not recognised under DOMA. Windsor late sued.

DOMA creates a gay-only exception to federal recognition of international or state-licensed marriages in the US, which denies same-sex couples many of the rights and benefits that heterosexual married couples enjoy.

Gay marriage is now legal in nine US states, including Washington which began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples this week.

The court will also decide whether California’s Proposition 8 ballot measure, which banned same-sex marriages in the state, is constitutional.

Two federal courts have found Prop 8 to be unconstitutional.

Arguments in the two cases are likely to be heard around March 25-27, with a decision likely by approximately June 27.

“Today is a historic moment for our nation, equality and countless gay and lesbian couples, who simply want an opportunity to marry the person they love,” Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) president Herndon Graddick said.

“Our momentum is great and our resolve is strong, with the Supreme Court now poised to affirm our Constitution’s core principals of liberty, dignity and equality for all.”

The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) said it is significant that the Supreme Court has taken the Prop 8 case.

“We believe it is a strong signal that the court will reverse the lower courts and uphold Proposition 8. That is the right outcome based on the law and based on the principle that voters hold the ultimate power over basic policy judgments and their decisions are entitled to respect,” NOM chairman John Eastman said.

“It’s a strong signal that the justices are concerned with the rogue rulings that have come out of San Francisco at both the trial court and appellate levels.”

A new Gallup poll released this week found a massive shift in support for same-sex marriage in the US, with 53 percent now in favour, up from 27 percent in 1996.

In last month’s US presidential elections, three states (Maine, Maryland and Washington) became the first to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote.

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