The legal status of same-sex marriage in Indiana has been a roller coaster throughout the past few months. But it looks like we could finally be getting off the ride.
In June, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Young ruled against Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban. After the decision, same-sex marriages in Indiana were legal, and for two days those in the land of cornfields lived together in harmony.
Then, everything changed when the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals attacked. They swept in and issued a stay.
A stay, for those of us who don’t usually give a flying twig about court cases or their terminology, is a device used by the court to suspend the legal proceedings of a case.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller then petitioned Indiana’s case to the Supreme Court in September.
Indiana wasn’t the only case waiting to be heard by the Supreme Court. Virginia, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Utah were also making themselves comfortable in the waiting room when, on Oct. 6, the Supreme Court denied all six cases.
In one fell swoop, the number of states where gay marriage was legal jumped from 19 to 24. And then the decision continued to branch out.
North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming were also affected by the decision.
These six states are located in the same judicial circuit as the five states whose cases were denied by the Supreme Court. Their lower courts must abide by the rulings of their appeals courts, thereby legalizing gay marriage in those states, as well.
The Supreme Court lifted a hold on gay marriage in Idaho on Oct. 10. The ruling will also affect Arizona, Montana and Alaska. More than half the country has either legalized, or is in the process of legalizing, same-sex marriage.
You could practically drown in all the human rights.
The Indiana Daily Student Editorial Board has long upheld the opinion that anyone and everyone has the right to marry the person he or she loves.
However, we also recognize it might be a bit alarming that the Supreme Court refused to, you know, do its job. And we find it a bit confusing why the court would make a decision that will eventually result in the legalization of gay marriage in 15 states instead of just legalizing it federally.
It could just be a matter of timing. The Supreme Court likes to arrive fashionably late.
The court waited until 1967 to strike down interracial marriage bans. It held its decision until 34 states began to allow such unions, then finally made such bans illegal, according to the New York Times.
If the court is really waiting for the right time to strike federally, well, there’s no time like the present. The court has its 34 states as of now. People have waited too long for this game to continue.
It’s time that people in all 50 states have the right to marry whomever they want, ?regardless of gender.
