Supreme Court hands double win to gay marriage backers

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  People celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington on June 26, 2013, … more 

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In a pair of landmark rulings, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a ban on married gay couples seeking benefits from the federal government, and effectively cleared the way for gay marriage to resume in California.

Gay rights groups cheered the two 5-4 rulings, but lamented that the high court stopped short of invalidating laws and constitutional bans in the dozens of states where gay marriage remains illegal. Traditional marriage groups condemned the rulings, but vowed to keep up the fight against gay marriage at the state level.

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The decision in the California Proposition 8 case — which said the private group defending the 2008 voter initiative didn’t have standing to appeal it to a federal appellate court — also fell short, because the high court didn’t address the issue of marriage-equality rights.

“While we celebrate the victory for Californians today, tomorrow we turn our attention to the millions of” gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people “who don’t feel the reach of these decisions,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign. HRC helped bring together the legal team that won in the Proposition 8 case.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court’s traditional swing vote, wrote the sweeping decision striking down the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), backed by the court’s four more liberal justices. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion in the Prop 8 case, in a ruling that scrambled the court’s usual ideological divide.

Justice Kennedy held that DOMA was “invalid, or no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the state, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.”

Supporters of traditional marriage took the decisions in stride.

The court’s ruling “does not silence the voices of America. Marriage — the union of husband and wife — will remain timeless,” said Austin R. Nimocks, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom.

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“Our next line of defense is to vigorously protect our religious liberty,” said Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.

DOMA struck down

In the case involving DOMA, Justice Kennedy’s opinion held that gay married couples cannot be treated differently than married couples for purposes of federal programs.

Edith Windsor, who sued to overturn DOMA because it cost her more than $350,000 in federal estate taxes when her Canadian wife, Thea Spyer, passed away. The decision all but guarantees her money will be refunded.

Justice Antonin Scalia argued the court should not have intervened in the political debate playing out in Washington and across the country over the definition of marriage.

“By formally declaring anyone opposed to same-sex marriage an enemy of human decency, the majority arms well every challenger to a state law restricting marriage to its traditional definition,” he wrote.

Dissenting with Justice Scalia in the DOMA case were Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito.

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Supreme Court hands double win to gay marriage backers