WASHINGTON, D.C. (MPRN)-- The US Supreme Court has struck down Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage and similar bans in other states.
The 5-4 decision says states must license same-sex marriages and must recognize marriages performed in other states.
From the AP:
The Supreme Court has declared that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States.
Gay and lesbian couples already can marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The court's ruling on Friday means the remaining 14 states, in the South and Midwest, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.
The outcome is the culmination of two decades of Supreme Court litigation over marriage, and gay rights generally.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says state agencies will make changes to ensure that the state fully complies with the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage.
The Republican notes that same-sex marriage has been a divisive issue. He says in a statement "it is important for everyone to respect the judicial process and the decision."
Snyder says people should focus on their shared values. With the ruling, he says "Michiganders we should move forward positively, embracing our state's diversity and striving to treat everyone with the respect and dignity they deserve."
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, just as he did in the court's previous three major gay rights cases dating back to 1996. He wrote:
"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed."