The Supreme Court Announced That They Will Rule On Same Sex Marriage And The Internet Is Excited

Friday was marked by a landmark decision by The Supreme Court to finally rule on same sex marriage at a national level. The decision is a reversal of stance compared to October and will be one of the key issues discussed before the court ends its current term in June. From The New York Times:

The decision came just months after the justices ducked the issue, refusing in October to hear appeals from rulings allowing same-sex marriage in five states. That decision, which was considered a major surprise, delivered a tacit victory for gay rights, immediately expanding the number of states with same-sex marriage to 24, along with the District of Columbia, up from 19.

Largely as a consequence of the Supreme Court’s decision not to act, the number of states allowing same-sex marriage has since grown to 36, and more than 70 percent of Americans live in places where gay couples can marry.

The cases the Supreme Court agreed to hear on Friday were brought by some 15 same-sex couples in four states. The plaintiffs said they have a fundamental right to marry and to be treated as opposite-sex couples are, adding that bans they challenged demeaned their dignity, imposed countless practical difficulties and inflicted particular harm on their children.

Response to SCOTUS’ announcement was mixed, but expected, with many voicing supporting in the media and on social networking. Ellen DeGeneres made a statement during her appearance at the Television Critics Association press tour promoting her new show One Big Happy:

“Yay! That’s fantastic. It’s about time,” Ellen DeGeneres said today at the 2015 Winter TCA Press Tour for her new NBC series One Big Happy. “It’s funny, I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie Selma, but the thing that changed the civil rights movement was when white people got involved and starting marching. Until then it was nothing but violence and it continued to be for a while. But we need everyone on our side.”

The funnylady continued, “We’re trying to kind of do this march and we just need people who believe in equality and believe in fairness and love. So if we have people who will join us and give us that, which is only fair to have the same rights that everybody else has, then it’s a wonderful world.” (via)

Others echoed the same sort of hope on Twitter, including Lady Gaga and the always funny Billy Eichner:

https://twitter.com/AudraEqualityMc/status/556463148262502400

There’s even this nice tattoo of Ruth Bader Ginsberg floating around to add a little flair to the excitement. I believe it captures the tenacity perfectly (along with those excellent cheek bones):

Now they just have to hope that this doesn’t all end in disappointment. The odds are certainly in their favor, but there are always other forces at work. There are also many out there that don’t agree on accepting the issue or even allowing it into discussion. We’ll all just have to wait until the beginning of summer to see what happens.

(Via New York Times / E! )