America’s Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 in favour of same-sex marriages declaring attempts by conservative states to ban same-sex marriages unconstitutional.
Five of the nine Supreme Court judges determined that the right for same-sex couples to marry was enshrined in the Constitution’s 14th amendment, which means gay couples will now be allowed to marry anywhere in the United States.
“No longer may this liberty be denied,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority’s ruling in the historic decision, whose case name is Obergefell v Hodges.
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.”
He added that marriage is a “keystone of our social order,” Justice Kennedy said, adding that the plaintiffs in the case were seeking “equal dignity in the eyes of the law.”
During a conversation with one of the plaintiffs, US President Barack Obama said the decision would “end the patchwork system we currently have”
“This ruling is a victory for America,” he said. “This decision affirms what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts: when all Americans are treated as equal, we are all more free.”
