After stalling for what seemed like forever, the justices of the Supreme Court have finally decided to weigh in on marriage equality: In an announcement made this afternoon, the Court revealed they will hear an appeal of Hollingsworth v. Perry, centered around the legality of California’s odious Proposition 8.
In addition, the Supremes will also hear an appeal of Windsor v. the United States, which addresses the Defense of Marriage Act: Widow Edie Windsor, 83, had to shell out more than $300,000 in estate taxes when her legally-wed wife died—money they would have kept if they were heterosexual.
The justices will not act on the petitions involving other marriage-equality cases, like Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, which addressed the inequity facing LGBT government employees who are legally married in their home states but can’t receive federal partner benefits.
We’ll have more analysis and news as it becomes available.
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kernelt
Finally! 😀
got the news at 3:08PM
Joe
I have been a closeted gay male for 35 years and was married for 17 1/2 years to a woman trying to cover up my sexual orientation as many gays do. I have had long relatioships with other men only to find that I was and had been cheated on.
I don’t think that gays should have the right to marry PER-SAY as strait people are. I think the gay community is better than this. I feel that if 2 people want to live as one person, they should have the right to do so, but just not call it marry.
Remember, gays would not be having any problem if all gays would have dressed in suits and ties and went to DC to talk to congress about being able to have the same benifits as strait people do. Insted of showing some modisty, covering up there junk and only sharing with there mate, they flonted it to everyone making them look and not taking this serious so inturns NO ONE IS TAKING GAY SERIOUSLY. If you want people to treat you as an equeal, then you have to act like someone they want to share space with. This is not only my idea, this is the idea of hundred of thousands of gay all over the U.S.
We all can live in harmony, but you first have to know what harmony is… You just don’t push your idea’s on everyone who don’t agree with you, you just take it to the higher authorites and from there, we learn how to get things done without acting like an ass.
Joseph Vaughn
alterego1980
This makes me nervous. I was hoping they would refuse to take the case, which would have automatically struck down the law and allowed for marriage equality in CA. But I guess that was never going to happen. The Court wants their say. I assume it’s going to be close and the decision won’t be for a while. Anything can happen. All I can say is if the court strikes down both laws, it will be a huge party for all the gays…
Bill
@Joe:
The Supreme Court has just ruled that Joseph Vaughn is a fucking idiot.
Joe
Sorry dude.. Just the facts on my part. I’ve done my home work.. With hard work, comes rewards. Joseph Vaughn does know what he is talking about and he does not think everyone should believe the way he does. Just trying to get the truth out so everyone will know how to dress themselves instead of flaunting. There are a difference!!
Spike
The liberal Justices know they have the votes, and it’s a very good chance, given Robert’s recent decisions, that he will side with them.
This decision will be more historic then the Health Care Reform Act, and he will want his legacy to be with the majority on this.
Ben
I cant wait to Marry my partner in California. Will have to take it one step at a time it seems.
Spike
@Joe: Your being closeted for 35 years pretty much makes your opinion on this topic NOT APPLICABLE, esp when you fall back on that tired str8t projection that gays are not taken seriously because we all don’t dress and behave like sick u the ass god fearing str8t people.
BTW, we are taken VERY SERIOUSLY, go ask the Obama Re-Election Campaign.
kernelt
@Joe: I laugh went you say it is truth and expect it to be truth for everyone else. U might not appreciate marriage may it be gay or not, but does not mean that everyone’s right marriage should be taken away. I don’t care how you live your life, but don’t interfere with mine.
Thomathy
Funny, Joseph Vaughan, isn’t it, that gays have been taken seriously in a number of countries outside of the US. Countries where the gay population is hardly discernible from that in the US, even.
The only people who seem to need to change in regards to gay marriage are the people who oppose it. Or, they don’t need to change and they rather need to stop getting in the way. It seems to have worked here in Canada …I wonder why it shouldn’t be so in the US?
Do you really think that the US is an island and the people inhabiting it are so different from everyone else? You should probably peek beyond your borders sometime.
alterego1980
@Joe: Joseph, I respect your opinion though I wholeheartedly disagree with you. While there were those who did agree with your position to dress modestly and act like a a good little toy soldier, that unfortunately brought no movement in the fight for gay rights. Do you remember those who marched in front of Independence Hall each year? They got nowhere. The gay movement came out of the counter culture. It’s because we didn’t fit in to the typical mold that society told us we should fit into that we should never try to blend in with them.
Though it has taken time, the LGBT community is getting something much more powerful. They are saying accept us for who we are. Seeking acceptance in someone else’s mold is fool-hearty and hollow. In addition, the more muted a group is, the less likely they are to get what they came for. Unfortunately, a muted struggle for equality that you suggest might only end up in domestic partnerships and if we’re lucky, civil unions. You seem perfectly happy there. But that is not full equality. My love is not different love. It is the same as any straight person and deserves the same title of expression.
I also fear that the type of equality you seek would have brought us short of equality in the military and in other areas of discrimination. This simply will not do. When will we stop settling for second class? When will we stop saying it’s OK to be treated differently? when will we say we will no longer be discriminated against?
I am proud for my LGBT history over the past 50 years. Where we came from and how we got here. I will accept nothing less than freedom of expression. No less than any 1 of my straight friends.
Joe
That was your downfall right from the begining. It don’t take a fool to know another one, it just takes someone with more than an IQ of 1 to know this. And for everyone that thinks that I don’t have a right to speak on this toppic. While all you queers, fag’s or what ever you call yourself was out on the street, acting a complete idiot, I was home doing my home work to get my PHd in this feild. I have more of a right than people that wear a pink too-too and dance around like they have a fire up their but. Lets all get real here, just because you have your idea’s about what the gay life style is, don’t push it on all the gay’s, your idea is yours only and not everyones. Looks like you could understand you can learn a whole lot more if you keep your mouth shut, dress down and act like your have some God given sence!!!!
p.s.
Remember the men that gave their life so we could have the freedoms we have today? If not, you need to know that I have just as much of a say as any blk man in any office, white man that handels a hammer or woman that charges millions of dollars to fly in a different plane just to keep from traveling with her own husband!!! HELLO???
Joseph Vaughn
kernelt
@kernelt: just like to add-on to what I have to say.
Live in harmony? don’t push your idea’s on everyone who don’t agree with you? funny how you should preach it and your deed contradict your words. If you really want people to let you live in peach, then you must first do so yourself. Stop pushing philosophy that others are not favor of, through restrictive and demeaning legislation and propaganda.
FYI respect is a two way street, if the other side doesn’t respect our side, why should we respect their.
Joe
OK.. while I can make a phone call and get a Dr’s appointment the very day, your country has to make a request to see a Dr. of anykind. Then in a few monthes, you just might be able to see someone.. I too would like to know why it is that if there is are was a wealthy person that lived were you are and they wanted to get medical work done, they come here to get it done.??? You see, I do know a little of your British country. I too lived in B.C for awhile. Taxes are to high there as they are here. BTW, Ice Cream for a dip here is only $1.25 I paid $4.50 for the very same thing all within a few weeks. Yeah.. Tell me about your over paid and underworked country you have. LOL
perryb
If Joseph Vaughn has a PhD I will eat my fucking sneakers!!! most individuals with doctorates have a command of the english language and can SPELL and in particular know how to abbreviate PhD….jesus god…such ridiculous, archaic thinking.
Joe
Why do you have to have a flashing light on your head advertising your sexuality. Why can’t you just let people live the way they want to and stop so much drama. Is drama all that us gay’s no how to do??? There is head way being made yes. But, don’t feed the camel so much that he choke’s, feed it a little and wait for it to digest what your wanting and not go so hard, you will see better results in the long run. I give everyone an A for effort, you all are doing great work.. You just have to understand, there are people that still want to put all gays on an island and nuke it. My own dad has said this most all mylife untill I came out. I seen the haters and the lovers. Love is is dominate and will prevale. You just have to sew the seed, water it and watch it grow. Let the sun to it’s job and it will bloom. To much manure will burn it up. Do a little and wait, then a little more and so on. You will see your efforts pay out at the end and your work will not be in vain. Save the money that has been given for this cause and use it wisely. Most of this is common sense!!
GreatGatsby2011
@Joe: Wow, you got a PhD with grammar and sentence structure like that? I guess they’ll give a PhD to just about anybody these days.
How about you learn proper English before trying to tell us what we should or should not do? Then we might more easily understand the garbage coming out of your mouth. We’ll still ignore it, but at least we’ll comprehend it.
kernelt
@GreatGatsby2011: I don’t think it matter much, since all of this is going to the trash anyway 😀
Joe
AS we can tell by your understanding of the english so well, that you still have your job that you got when a republican was in office.. Some of us are not as lucky as you are Mr. Perryb. Some of us have had to look for work now that we have an idiot for president and have to type on toys that are painted black because we can not afford a good one. My key’s stick, double type, mis hit and sometimes don’t even click at all. I am lucky if I make as much as a school teacher does with only a BA. Go to your million dollar job and be thankful that you have it. Not everyone was happy for the freaking idiot that was chosen out of just 6 states to pretend to to act like a president. He is no better than hitler, if it makes him look like more than a turd, he will say what he has to just to make himself look so good. Yeap,, I am a red neck gay Republican that has a Phd. Yes, I left the d little because it has not got me anywere in life other than over worked and under paid…
Joe
When in rome Gatsby, you do as the romans do. When in the north, you do as the northern’s do, but when you in the south, Who really give a flying flitter?. I don’t
Joseph
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@Joe:
Joe, please go back in the closet.
the other Greg
I suspect “Joe Vaughan” has a PhD in trolling. With an undergrad degree in horticulture: “You just have to sew the seed, water it and watch it grow. Let the sun to it’s job and it will bloom. To much manure will burn it up.” Yeah, there’s a lot of manure there and he may even be a gay liberal from Eureka Springs, Ark. who’s doing a fun parody of rednecks. If so, it’s one of the more creative efforts we’ve had here! Can someone who’s on Facebook check out the rest of his site?
Hilarious!
GreatGatsby2011
@Joe: If you can’t be bothered to care about what you right, why should anybody else?
GreatGatsby2011
@GreatGatsby2011: *write*
curan
Joe, I’m sure that you’re a nice guy, but I feel the need to remind you of a few founding principles of our republic. Bear with me.
“…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
“equal protection before the law.”
“full faith and credit”
“secure in your person, papers, and effects”
Joe, I respect your assertion that gay people should not be able to get married; I don’t understand it, but I respect it.
However, I’ve thought about the founding principles over the years, the ones above and others, and I really can’t see the “separate but equal” arguments working any better now than they ever did before. It didn’t produce a well-integrated black culture, and it won’t produce a well-integrated gay culture.
The founders lived in a horrible world of slavery and misogyny. They espoused ideals to which they could never adhere, but as the years have passed we’ve come ever closer to faithfully executing the morality and legality that they defined.
We still have a long way to go, but I think that the recognition of our culture that gay people have equal protection, equal expectation of safety, and an equal right to happiness is a step that we need to take here and now.
More steps are coming. Big steps. One day at a time.
Mjl-428
@Joe: If your point was to have a little bit of modesty every once in a while and not to look like someone who escaped from a cirque d’ Soleil on a daily basis, you failed to capture anyone’s attention or support the minute you used your personal history as a reason why Gays shouldn’t be allowed to marry. because you couldn’t come to terms with yourself, and probably still can’t, everyone else has to suffer? and the whole don’t call it marriage thing? Really? You sound like all those selfish twats who act like marriage is a brand new Louis Vouton(?) handbag and it won’t be valuable to them anymore unless everyone else has a bootleg version. (I should’ve used that a long time ago).
second, after several members replied to you, in the typical pitch-fork manner (and yes ya’ll do), you sink down to such a level rather than trying to maintain the level of class and education that you claim to have above them. the acting like an uptight jock lashing out over a little gay joke routine didn’t win anyone over either.
thirdly, you’re a member so you can’t say that you don’t see the little reply and flag buttons right next to everyone’s time stamp just underneath their comment, INCLUDING YOURS. can you try to make it clear who you’re replying to when you’re going off on your tangent because some people responded to you without the hostile intent and it looks like you just lumped everyone together and fired into the crowd. show SOME etiquette please.
and then your comment @#16, you scaled it back a bit but by then the damage was done, making your entire point moot. I understand that you were saying that we should be open but not to the point where the only things that people see are just men walking around in thongs, drag queens and having only an effeminate overly sexual nature about them making people wonder if the concept of a masculine gay male or even one who just simply wants relax at home with a book and a beer and not a cosmopolitan in the middle of the afternoon with a bunch of people who b!#$!@ about their neighbors and plan on sleeping with someone’s boyfriend. if that was your point, then it would’ve been better just to say that, with just less blunt wording than what I used.
Now as far as comment #19, where you call the president the equivalent of Hitler, I do wonder how so many republicans can be so out forth with say that Obama is as bad as Hitler and Saddam, but casually ignore another certain president or a few members of congress and the senate and several people who shall not named at the moment who put us in the broken state we’re in now. Look I don’t trust certain people on either side enough to the point where I would prepare to have my knife sharpened if I can’t see any part of them period. For everyone complaining and moaning about everyone from both sides, it’s time that we all as Americans started acting we gave a damn about the country we claim to love so much and put these guys in the figurative boiling pot and tell them that the only way they get to live, is if they start working for us instead of holding our jobs, taxes, rights, and children’s futures in the balance. none of us want to pay anymore for the expensive health care, the welfare programs, the jails, and other crap. it’s not just conservatives who feel this way. Democrats hate it too. But what we’re not gonna do is act all holier than thou while trying to pull a Leonidas and kick people into the pit of death. there’s no need for us to turn this into a land of the haves, have-nots, those that shame the people who don’t fit into a certain standard of what a person should be or look like. It’s become ridiculous and childish for GROWN ADULTS. This is no longer just about a few people here and there getting what they want, it’s about the country getting what it needs, and as a result, the world. Much of what happens in the world today revolves around the U.S. that makes people feel important but they should not forget the unshakable responsibility that comes with it. Now before this guy graduates with his degree, can I see that I don’t have to start taking up voodoo magic and playing Robin Hood in order for me to have the future that I’ve dreamed of?
ChiChi Man
@2eo: Man, I would NOT want to get on your cyber bad side lol. You rock!
And I think it’s obvious that Joe is here to distract us from discussing the real story — which is that this is good news. Support for marriage equality is growing and Roberts does not want a reversal — especially one that will probably happen within 5 years! And quite frankly, the DOMA case is a slam-dunk, a clear case of tax discrimination to the tune of over $300K. My pay stub literally has “Same Sex” as a line item for the taxes I pay to have my husband on my insurance. How is this even remotely fair or just? Only loons like Scalia and Thomas will be able to twist the Constitution to support upholding DOMA at this point.
el polacko
i’ve long argued that the courts were not the place to take our fight for equality.
a decision against us will have huge ramifications for generations to come.
it does not bode well that the supreme court has decided to take up the prop 8 case when they could have simply sent the issue back to the state (where it belongs). as the saying goes, ‘be careful what you ask for’.
RSun
Oh Joe. I also am not the type to march in parades, dress up in wild clothes or flaunt my sexuality. I DO, however, support anyone (gay or straight) who does so in support of equal rights. I like to think myself as one of the team, behind the scenes, being OUT and PROUD in my community…being a good neighbour, volunteer, and family member. Being honest about who you are (and to yourself) will take you far.
FStratford
@Joe:
I don’t believe that you have a PhD. Your grammar is atrocious. I cant imagine anyone approving your thesis with your grammar. Its PhD or Ph.D. not PHd. Its per se, not per say. It won’t all of a sudden become right even if you capitalize it to PER SAY.
snicker
Geoff B
Joe, I hope you’re joking. As someone who is gay and quite conservative(in the true definition, not the two faced Christian right definition), just because you think gay people shouldn’t be allowed to be married, why do you think that way? True conservatives want the government out of our way as much as possible. Why do you think marriage equality is the exception? You and others who think like you are false conservatives although you have plenty of company with the wretched likes of Santorum, Bachmann and Palin. Do you really want the government out of your way, or only when ot suits you? I would love to line up with the Republican party, but until they stop wanting me to accept being a second class citizen, that’s a dealbreaker. I’m sorry you wasted so much of your life in the closet, but I for one will not side with those who agree with me on everything except that I am worthy of the same human rights as they are.
mlbumiller
Can we all stay on topic of the article instead of bashing a personal views?
As a CA resident, I am a bit scared that the USSC has decided to take on Prop 8, it could go against our favor. Now DOMA… that piece of crap. My partner has been with me since 1992, two deployments to the mid-east and a stint overseas, and I cannot get military benefits even if we could get married. Now my current employer give us both medical benefits, but they are seen as income, and i have to pay tax on them, while my stright married coworkers do not.
ginger5010
til I looked at the draft ov $7328, I accept that my best friend was like they say actualy receiving money part-time on their computer.. there aunts neighbour haz done this for only nineteen months and just repayed the dept on there villa and got a new Volkswagen Golf GTI. go to, cloud68DOtcom