The U.S. Supreme Court announced this afternoon that they will hear all cases from the 6th Circuit Court, which includes the revisiting of Ohio’s 2004 same sex marriage ban. Many other states had bans overturned in 2014, and a ruling on the case in Ohio is anticipated sometime this sumer.
“It was just ten years ago when anti-gay forces conspired to pass a constitutional amendment in Ohio, and in numerous other states nationwide, to ban marriage for loving same-sex couples,” said Michael Premo, Campaign Manager for Why Marriage Matters Ohio. “But after today’s historic announcement, we are now on the steps of victory.”
As of October 2014, over half of the US population now lives in states with marriage equality, with Ohio in the minority of states that still retain a ban. The review of cases this spring includes similar bans in Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee as well.
“The majority of Ohioans believe that everyone should have the freedom to marry the person they love, and support continues to grow as people have conversations with friends and family about why marriage matters for all couples,” Premo stated in an editorial penned for Columbus Underground in December.
Last February, a Quinnipiac poll showed that support for marriage equality in Ohio had cleared the 50% threshold. The latest Gallup poll shows national support at 55 percent, which is up 15 points in the past five years.
“Marriage has returned to the U.S. Supreme Court faster than virtually any other issue in American history, and there’s a simple reason for that — committed and loving gay and lesbian couples, their children, and the fair-minded American people refuse to wait a single day longer,” said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin in a press release this afternoon. “As Justice Anthony Kennedy said in the Windsor case, this is a struggle over whether our families are equal or whether they are second class. The U.S. constitution does not tolerate second-class citizenship, a fact that has toppled discriminatory marriage bans from Utah to Arkansas. We’ve reached the moment of truth — the facts are clear, the arguments have been heard by dozens of courts, and now the nine justices of the Supreme Court have an urgent opportunity to guarantee fairness for countless families, once and for all.”
For more information, visit www.whymarriagemattersoh.org.
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