Supreme Court Rulings Advance Same-Sex Marriage
Same-sex Marriage Granted Federal Government Recognition, while California's Prop 8 Suit Dismissed. Dismissal Clears Way for Same-Sex Marriage in Golden State
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that same-sex married couples are entitled to federal benefits, striking down section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment and granting full federal recognition of same-sex marriage. The Court's ruling on Windsor v. the United States, delivered by Justice Kennedy, establishes that same-sex couples married in states where it is legal will receive the Social Security, tax, federal health and other benefits that heterosexual couples receive.
“What has been explained to this point should more than suffice to establish that the principal purpose and the necessary effect of this law are to demean those persons who are in a lawful same-sex marriage. This requires the Court to hold, as it now does, that DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the liberty of the person,” wrote Kennedy.