But that's exactly what (potentially) may have happened today when the Supreme Court refused to hear all seven pending certiorari petitions concerning same sex marriage. For the uninitiated, what this means is that lower courts made a decision concerning same sex marriage (in this case, in favor) and when assholes tried to appeal this decision, the SCOTUS effectively said nah, "leaving intact lower court rulings that will legalize the practice in 11 additional states."
Now, a lot of these numbers are conjecture by excitable journalists and underpaid bloggers trying to claw their way to the front page of the internet. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the enthusiasm that comes with such a (possibly) landmark decision and I'll be happy to celebrate once we know for sure. But it wouldn't be fair to those being truly affected by this decision to come out here and start waving the rainbow flag of victory just yet. Thus, in the interest of clarity (and at the risk of buzz killing) I am going to attempt to reconcile a few of these statistics and numbers.
First of all, there are only five states that will see an almost immediate change in marriage equality laws. Those states being Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. This is what we know to be fact. Here's where the speculation comes in.
It's worth giving a very quick and very cursory crash course in law before we proceed. The United States is divided into 12 circuits, each of which has a court of appeals. Unless I am mistaken, in the case that a circuit court makes a decision, it applies to the entire circuit. Now, I am sure there are all sorts of exceptions and loopholes and general fuckery that could invalidate my statement. But in the opinion of countless journalists on the internet, this seems to be the case today.
Your college law course out of the way, let's talk about what this actually means. According to a spokesman for the Virginia Attorney General, "the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit will issue an order at 1 pm that will allow same-sex marriages to begin." While Virginia may be the seat of the 4th circuit, the circuit also includes four other states: Maryland (which has already legalized same sex marriage), South Carolina, West Virginia (lol), and North Carolina. This means that there is a likelihood that the decision will also apply to those states.
Yes, you read that right. West Virginia may have legal same sex marriages before twenty other states. If that doesn't conjure up some sort of schadenfreude for you, I don't know what will. In all seriousness, if this really is the case and the decision does cause a domino effect, we may see widespread marriage equality in as many as 30 states by the end of this whole thing. That would mean that the majority of the nation would be marriage equality-friendly. Which, you know, is a big fucking deal.
But, once again, please keep in mind that the decision is still very fresh and still being hotly debated. I like to believe that the good guys win, but the assholes are still very adept at inserting their general assholery into these situations. Who knows what loophole some douchenugget will find to ruin this for millions of Americans? Take everything I've said with a grain of salt and do your own research.
Your college law course out of the way, let's talk about what this actually means. According to a spokesman for the Virginia Attorney General, "the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit will issue an order at 1 pm that will allow same-sex marriages to begin." While Virginia may be the seat of the 4th circuit, the circuit also includes four other states: Maryland (which has already legalized same sex marriage), South Carolina, West Virginia (lol), and North Carolina. This means that there is a likelihood that the decision will also apply to those states.
Yes, you read that right. West Virginia may have legal same sex marriages before twenty other states. If that doesn't conjure up some sort of schadenfreude for you, I don't know what will. In all seriousness, if this really is the case and the decision does cause a domino effect, we may see widespread marriage equality in as many as 30 states by the end of this whole thing. That would mean that the majority of the nation would be marriage equality-friendly. Which, you know, is a big fucking deal.
But, once again, please keep in mind that the decision is still very fresh and still being hotly debated. I like to believe that the good guys win, but the assholes are still very adept at inserting their general assholery into these situations. Who knows what loophole some douchenugget will find to ruin this for millions of Americans? Take everything I've said with a grain of salt and do your own research.
It's not yet time to break out the disco ball and celebrate, but you'd be remiss if you didn't let loose a single fist pump in the air, prematurity notwithstanding.
And to those of you that suddenly find yourselves legally allowed to marry the person you love: Congratulations and I apologize that we took this long to grant you a right you should have had all along.
And to those of you that suddenly find yourselves legally allowed to marry the person you love: Congratulations and I apologize that we took this long to grant you a right you should have had all along.
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