WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has declared that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States, including Ohio.
Gay and lesbian couples already can marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The court’s ruling on Friday means the remaining 14 states in the South and Midwest, including Ohio, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.
“Ohio’s involvement in this case has been to defend the voter-passed amendment. While Ohio argued that the Supreme Court should let this issue ultimately be decided by the voters, the Court has now made its decision,” said Attorney General Mike DeWine whose office defended Ohio’s voter-approved gay-marriage ban in the courts
Read some reactions to the ruling.
The outcome is the culmination of two decades of Supreme Court litigation over marriage, and gay rights generally.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, just as he did in the court’s previous three major gay rights cases dating back to 1996.