Students anticipate Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality
Marriage equality could be legalized in all 50 states in a matter of months due to a recent decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court to hear cases from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, according to Supreme Court documents.
The four cases will be combined into one hearing where the justices will answer two questions: Does the 14th Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? Does the 14th Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?
The Supreme Court plans to have a final ruling by June.
Vestaburg senior and President of Central Michigan University College Democrats Sam McNerney said the Supreme Court will rule in favor of recognizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
“I think it’s going to be a 5-4 decision,” McNerney said. “The court has already set the precedent that the Constitution does guarantee equal protection for LGBT couples.”
In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act’s definition of “marriage” as a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. The decision allowed same-sex couples that were previously married to be treated the same as married opposite-sex couples under federal law.
Ithaca senior Jon Thebo, a general member of CMU College Republicans, said he has a different view on the term “marriage.”
“As a Catholic, I believe marriage is a religious term. It should be eliminated from our government,” Thebo said. “We have the separation of church and state, and that term should never have been used in our political system. We should have a more governmental term for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Instead of calling it marriage, we should call it a civil union.”
Although marriage equality is an important issue for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, Shannon Jolliff, director of CMU’s Office of LGBTQ Services, said there are still laws in place that discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“We can still be asked to leave restaurants. We can still be denied housing. We can still face harassment,” Jolliff said. “We need to change our non-discrimination policy.
“At the end of the day, if you can get married but not walk into your job without the fear of being fired, that’s problematic.”
