Same sex marriage is now legal in the entire US after a
Supreme Court ruling striking down state marriage bans.
The ruling means all US states
must grant marriage licences to gay and lesbian couples and recognize marriages
that have taken place in other states.
So how did we get to this point?
One of the first couples to wed in Massachusetts
In 1996, the US Congress passed
and President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that
prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
In 2003, Massachusetts
One high-profile ban occurred
by referendum in California
This continued across the US
What did justices have to decide in this case?
Jim Obergefell brought a lawsuit against the state of Ohio
The justices, who had
previously stopped short of resolving the question of same-sex marriage
nationally, had to consider whether or not states were constitutionally
required to issue marriage licences and if states were required to recognize
same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
How many states previously allowed same-sex unions?
Before the ruling, 36 states
were issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples, as well as Washington DC
A referendum on gay marriage in California
A critical turning point came
in October 2014, when the Supreme Court chose not to hear appeals against lower
court rulings that had overturned same-sex marriage bans - expanding the
legality of gay unions to many more states.
In other states, same-sex
marriage has been approved either through legislation or voter referenda.
What have been the key Supreme Court rulings?
On 6 October 2014, the court
turned away appeals from five states with gay marriage bans on the books that
had challenged court rulings overturning those bans.
In challenging the gay marriage
bans, proponents relied on a 2013 Supreme Court ruling in the case of United States v Windsor
Edith Windsor was the plaintiff in the last gay marriage
case at the Supreme Court
In that case, the court
overturned the Defense of Marriage Act (Doma), which barred the federal
government from recognizing same-sex marriages.
Under Doma, for example,
individuals in same-sex marriages were ineligible for benefits from federal
programs such as the Social Security pension system and some tax allowances
if their partners died.
Another key case, Hollingsworth
v Perry of 2013, was filed by two lawyers, Theodore Olson and David Boies,
working together on behalf of their California
They argued that the Supreme
Court should strike down a state law, called Proposition 8, which stated that
marriage is between a man and a woman. The law, approved by California
What is next?
Marriages will continue as
before in the 36 states. The remaining states will have to issue licences,
although it is unclear how long they have to comply with the court's ruling.
However, there were reports of court clerk offering licences only an hour after
the Supreme Court decision.
Structure of The Lead:
WHO- supreme court
WHERE- the entire US
WHEN- not given
WHY- grant the gay and lesbian marriage licences
WHAT- to legalize the gay marriage
HOW- not given
Keywords:
1. referenda 複決(referendum 的複數)
2. high-profile 備受矚目的
3. strike down 打倒
4. in question 談到的;爭論中的
5. proponent 支持者
6. barred 禁止
7. on behalf of 代表
8. federal program 聯邦程序
9. appeal against 針對上訴
10. act 法案
