Will This Truly Be The Month of Pride?

June is historically the month celebrated by the LGBT community as "Pride Month".  This celebration of the LGBT community goes back to the Stonewall Riots of 1969.  These celebrations of pride in our community have evolved into parades and all day events in towns and cities around the world.

This year, 2015, holds a special significance here in the United States as SCOTUS (The Supreme Court of the United States) has before it a number of cases out of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals dealing with marriage equality.  The Court has yet to hand down its ruling and is not expected to do so until late in the month on its closing day of the session.  This is normal for especially contentious issues before SCOTUS.

But as the decision lands in the month of June, the question in my mind is will this month be a truly pride full month with a decision that makes marriage equality the law of the land.  Or, will SCOTUS make this month one of sorrow?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

A Decision is Finally Coming: Marriage Equality to be Argued at SCOTUS

As reported by many news organizations, at least four Justices of the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) have agreed to hear four cases coming out of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals in regards to marriage equality.  After the October 6th, 2014 decision by SCOTUS to deny "cert" to challenges to rulings coming from the 4th, 7th and 10th US Circuit Courts of appeals and the despicable ruling by the 6th Circuit, this day could not come soon enough.

The two questions before SCOTUS will be whether or not same sex marriage bans in 31 states and their denial of recognition of same sex marriages performed in other states violates the 14th Amendment.  Numerous federal courts, including four appellate courts, along with several state courts have ruled that yes, these bans violate the 14th Amendment.  The 6th Circuit is the only appellate court to have ruled otherwise, going so far as to claim that the federal courts have no business overturning "voter approved" bans on marriage equality.

I am, of course, biased and believe that these bans do violate the 14th Amendment as well as the 9th Amendment.  Hell, SCOTUS has already ruled that marriage is a "fundamental right" in Loving v. Virginia (which also, by the way made marriage a "federal issue").

My hope is that the votes are there for marriage equality to become the law of the land in all 50 states and the various territories come June of this year.  My fingers are crossed.

Marriage Equallity Gets Great Field Position On A Punt From SCOTUS

Sometimes, when the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decides it really doesn't want to deal with an issue just yet, it will do what we like to call a "punt".  That is, without comment they decide to let various appellate court decisions stand.  Today, October 6th, 2014, SCOTUS did just that in regards to various marriage equality cases attempting to be reviewed by SCOTUS.

Just as we saw in several NFL games this past weekend, a punt can be a wonderful thing, for either team.  In the case of marriage equality, it is now legal for same-sex couples to get married in 24 states and the District of Columbia and in a very short time, it will be legal in 30 and Washington D.C.  That is incredible field position for advocates of marriage equality, such as myself.  In essence, to further push the football analogy, with the punt from SCOTUS, anti-marriage equality forces are stuck on their own 10 yard line with two minutes left on the clock, only one time out left , down by nine points and their quarterback is playing injured.

But, as we also saw this past weekend, the fortunes of any team can be turned around in the last two minutes.  So we need to watchful of the decision soon to come out of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, which could be the first appellate decision against marriage equality.  If that is the case, SCOTUS will most likely need to take up the issue of marriage equality for a full hearing.  I just hope it doesn't come down to the that.