Last week, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the United States, invalidated bans in more than 12 states, and granted the same rights and legality to married gay and lesbian couples. We are celebrating the 7th anniversary of the groundbreaking decision. The protection enjoyed by married heterosexuals.
Obergefell v. In the months and years leading up to the High Court's 2015 ruling in Hodges, we saw enthusiastic protests from LGBTQ opponents who claimed that same-sex marriage would destroy traditional families and the marriage system itself. I did.
Since then, it has been difficult to find evidence to support such a disastrous prediction. Marriage rates in the United States declined long before same-sex couples got the right to marry. As long as this trend has continued since 2015, researchers have pointed out many economic and sociological factors other than same-sex unions.
Meanwhile, more and more gay and lesbian people are embracing marriage. Since 2020, more than 570,000 households belong to same-sex marriages, or more than 1.1 million, according to the latest US Census Bureau data.
"We finally have the same rights as other couples who love each other," said Jill Spraygio, administrator of an information technology company based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He talked to VOA. Spragio and her partner married a year before Obergefell's decision in Illinois, where same-sex marriage was already legal.
"But until the Supreme Court's decision in 2015, we weren't found to be married in Louisiana," she said. "We wanted to be treated like a heterosexual married friend. Now, if one of us gets sick, the hospital can't get us out of the room and I We can make decisions with each other as spouses. If we survive them, we are entitled to the social security of our partner. I know it doesn't sound like much. Yes, but yes. "
But opponents of the decision claim that allowing gay marriage was harmful.
"Of course, I'm worried that the marriage and family system will be compromised," Liberty Counsel Chairman Matthew Staber told VOA. The foundation, and the house built on the sand, will eventually collapse.
Marriage as Stability
Molly Boule, who works in the New Orleans food and beverage industry, went to college at the time of the Obergefell v. Hodge trial. Was a senior of. .. Hodge. Bourg, who prefers certain pronouns other than gender, said the ruling changed their thinking about what is possible in their lives.
"I didn't come out as gay until the decision was made," Bourg told VOA. "When something goes legal, it feels more socially acceptable, but before that, I ask," Why put yourself there just to be rejected by the community I grew up in? " felt.
Bourg remembers. For example, you can see siblings relying on their families for help during a high school or college farewell.
"In the meantime, when I had my first broken heart, I was so scared that I couldn't tell anyone, so I remember having to struggle alone," they said. rice field. In the LGBTQ community.
But things seem more normal today, as same-sex marriage is legal across the country, Bourg said.
"My partner and I can talk about life and marriage plans a couple of years ahead, just like everyone else," they said. "It feels safe and homely, and I like having that safety. I imagine everyone would."
More and more voices Minority
Polls show that Americans are increasingly favoring same-sex marriage. According to Gallup's annual values and beliefs survey conducted in May, 71% of Americans say they support the right of gay and lesbian people to marry. This is a record high, up from 70% in the previous year.
When Gallup first voted in 1996, only 27% of the country supported same-sex marriage, and even among Republican voters, public awareness of such unions was steady. It shows that it is changing.
"I hope they have all the rights of a traditional family," said Jillian Dani, a Republican voter on Merritt Island, Florida.
Gallup's research reveals one group that is still opposed to gay marriage. It's an American who says he attends church every week. Only 40% of regular church attendees say they are in favor of same-sex unions.
"I don't think the Oberfell v Hodge trial affected the marriage system, nor did I," said Judy, a self-proclaimed supporter of former President Donald Trump of Garland, Texas.・ Thompson said. "To be honest, I don't like this decision. According to God's Law, marriage is between men and women, and I hope the Supreme Court will correct the previous judgment."
Preparing for the battle
The Supreme Court recently hinted that Thompson could fulfill her wishes.
Many LGBTQ people and their allies are worried that the Supreme Court will not stop at abortion. They are Roev, a groundbreaking decision of the Supreme Court in 1973 that legalized abortion nationwide. I'm afraid of the same reason that was used to overturn Wade. It is also used to overturn the decision to expand the rights of other groups.
Judge Clarence Thomas upheld the theory last month with his consensus overturning Law.
"In the future, we need to rethink virtually everything in this court, a due process precedent," he wrote. "Including Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell."
The Supreme Court's 1965 ruling in Griswold v. Connecticut stipulated the right of couples to use contraceptives. In 2003, in Lawrence v. Texas, the High Court revoked state law across the United States that penalizes sodomy.
"I think they're coming for us in one case at a time," said James Knoblach, a member of the LGBTQ community and vice president of public relations and digital. Stated. New York City marketing company. "You saw it in Thomas's opinion, and I passed this illegitimate court to go as far as criminalizing homosexuality in their bids to turn our democracy into a theocracy. I didn't. "
Bourg of New Orleans agreed.
"Thomas did more than just mention the Oberfell v Hodge trial," they said. "He also mentioned Lawrence vs. Texas. They are not only trying to deny our marriage, but also to criminalize what is happening in the bedroom. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is public. He said he defended the rebels-the sodomy law if it was brought to him. "
The fears of the LGBTQ community are well-founded, says Staver of Liberty Counsel.
"It is inevitable to reverse the Oberfell v Hodge trial," he said.
Staver not only calls him "an unfounded decision from a judge who imposes his own ideology freed from the Constitution," but says it harms American families. I believe it will fall because I feel it. ..
"There is no constitutional right to same-sex marriage, so the Oberfell v. Hodge trial is destined," he said. "And it's a good thing because same-sex marriage permanently robs children of their mothers and fathers, which casts a negative view on absent gender."
But the Southern Poverty Law Center "There is no legitimate study that proves that same-sex couples are more or less harmful than heterosexual couples," he said.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry&Adolescent Psychiatry said in a 2013 study, "According to the current study, children with gay and lesbian parents have emotional development and peers. Adults. "
Still, much of the LGBTQ community is prepared for the worst.
"I could feel it at the Pride Parade last month," explained Knoblach of New York City, citing the annual LGBTQ celebrations throughout June. "There was a rebellion in the crowd that I wouldn't normally feel. There's a feeling that a fight is coming and we're not going to retreat."
Other than the parade, like Bourg and his partners Individuals are also preparing.
"We have already explained the general options when the Oberfell v. Hodge trial and other decisions are overturned," Boule said. "If so, my hometown of Louisiana would ban same-sex marriage," he said.
This makes a very difficult decision for Bourg and many LGBTQ people will love them.
"Louisiana is my home. My family is here. And if the Supreme Court stays in this direction, I choose or love my family or my home. I have the opportunity to marry a person. It's painful. "
