Discriminatory, anti-gay marriage bans violate the Constitution. That’s the ruling of a 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court today that divided liberal and conservative judges.
Justice Anthony Kennedy gave what may be the most poignant opinion on the ruling.
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family,” he wrote. “In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.”
Chief Justice John Roberts summarized the dissenting opinion by writing that the Constitution “had nothing to do with it.”
Even before the ruling, 70 percent of Americans lived in one of 36 states that allowed same-sex marriage. Texas was not one of them.
Predictably, Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to fight the ruling. In a statement, he promised to “defend the religious liberties of all Texans — including those whose conscience dictates that marriage is only the union of one man and one woman.”
According to a recent poll by Texas Tech University-based Texas Research Institute, 64 percent of Texans reject the notion that gay marriage threatens religious freedoms.
This of course begs the question: Whom exactly does the governor think he’s representing?
