Washington, D.C. (AP) – The Supreme Court has declared that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States.
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, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.
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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.
The Supreme Court’s decision affirming the right to gay marriage came on a 5-4 vote
In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy write that “No union is more profound than marriage.” Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are the dissenters.
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