The Supreme Court on Friday delivered a historic victory for gay rights, ruling 5 to 4 that the Constitution requires that same-sex couples be allowed to marry no matter where they live and that states may no longer reserve the right only for heterosexual couples.
The court’s action marks the culmination of an unprecedented upheaval in public opinion and the nation’s jurisprudence. Advocates called it the most pressing civil rights issue of modern times, while critics said the courts had sent the country into uncharted territory by changing the traditional definition of marriage.
The dissents are powerful, but, alas, are dissents. I doubt the majority even bothers with such consideration on the limitations of their power or their duties under the Constitution.
Like Grexit, people have been anticipating this, but that will not make the situation any the less challenging.
Aside from the decision there are a few other observations:
1. The increased divorce between the secular situation and church situation and the removal of a religious moral underpinning for the State’s actions and institutions;
2. A real constitutional question over the separation and checks and balances of the Presidency as executive, Congress as legislator and the Courts as adjudicators – the role of Congress has been attacked by the President by executive order and the courts as they are taking on a law-making role, albeit by some tortuous reasoning attempts.
3. Questions for the wider church in the Anglican Communion and countries in the Commonwealth as to whether connection with the US and TEC and UK and CofE is now becoming increasingly toxic. The next few days will clarify the TEC position, much as the Supreme Court has clarified the US position and David Cameron clarified the UK position. We will see whether the CofE follows.
4. The issue of persecution of the churches coming in the Western democracies much as it is present for most of those in the Anglican Communion.