SCOTUS strikes down gay marriage bans, legalizing marriage equality nationwide

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Not familiar with US legislature, but can a court decide this? Shouldn't new laws, or law amendments pass through the legislative body, congress and senate? Or do the courts in the US have more power than other countries?

It's not "the court" that has the power, it's the constitution that has the power. The court is simply a binding arbiter of the constitution. Constitutional courts exist in most but not all democracies.
 
CNN: Making FOX look less crazy...

CIhzxXiVEAA2jp3.jpg:large

I just realized those are dildos LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!
 
Not familiar with US legislature, but can a court decide this? Shouldn't new laws, or law amendments pass through the legislative body, congress and senate? Or do the courts in the US have more power than other countries?

Supreme Court didn't pass a new law persay, they interpret the ones on the books.

Supreme Court can't just say "everyone has to wear blue now", for example, they have to have a case before them and go "alright, according to our interpretation of the Constitution, we deem this law means that everyone has to wear blue" or "this law requiring people to wear blue is legal"

We have 3 branches:

Legislative (House and Senate)
Executive (President)
Judicial (Supreme Court)

Each theoretically are a check and balance against each other so no one entity can take off with a ton of power. Congress doesn't get to determine laws it passes are Constitutional, for example, nor can the President fire Senators. Judges are chosen by the President and approved by Congress for life / until retirement. They're the highest level officials that aren't elected in our Government. Idea there is they won't be making interpretations with re-election in mind.

Supreme Court justices can be impeached by the House and tried by the Senate, but only one has ever been impeached (way back in 1804) and the Senate did not convict.
 
Not familiar with US legislature, but can a court decide this? Shouldn't new laws, or law amendments pass through the legislative body, congress and senate? Or do the courts in the US have more power than other countries?

They struck down existing laws banning same sex marriage based on the 14th amendment which guarantees equality under the law in the equal protection clause.

Anyone who says the Supreme Court haven't read the constitution need to read the constitution.
 
Supreme Court didn't pass a new law persay, they interpret the ones on the books.

Supreme Court can't just say "everyone has to wear blue now", for example, they have to have a case before them and go "alright, according to our interpretation of the Constitution, we deem this law means that everyone has to wear blue" or "this law requiring people to wear blue is legal"

We have 3 branches:

Legislative (House and Senate)
Executive (President)
Judicial (Supreme Court)

Each theoretically are a check and balance against each other so no one entity can take off with a ton of power. Congress doesn't get to determine laws it passes are Constitutional, for example, nor can the President fire Senators. Judges are chosen by the President and approved by Congress for life / until retirement. They're the highest level officials that aren't elected in our Government. Idea there is they won't be making interpretations with re-election in mind.

Supreme Court justices can be impeached by the House and tried by the Senate, but only one has ever been impeached (way back in 1804) and the Senate did not convict.

As an interesting technicality, the court's ability for Constitutional Review isn't actually written into the Constitution as part of the system of checks and balances. The Supreme Court gave itself that right early on under Chief Justice John Marshall. I believe it was for the Alien & Sedition Acts case. Not that that matters, because it is the obvious role of a supreme judiciary body.
 
As an interesting technicality, the court's ability for Constitutional Review isn't actually written into the Constitution as part of the system of checks and balances. The Supreme Court gave itself that right early on under Chief Justice John Marshall. I believe it was for the Alien & Sedition Acts case. Not that that matters, because it is the obvious role of a supreme judiciary body.

I'm always amused by folks suddenly having an issue with the concept of judicial review now that this particular issue has come up.
 
Coudln't sleep last night and ivysaur's picture post inspired me to make this

https://youtu.be/5fni2HW8ghw


Thanks again to ivysaur cause I totally used all the pictures ya tracked down <3

Hope you guys like it.

This is a really nice video! Cried with happiness seeing all these happy people and now knowing if I ever meet a woman, we can get married without worrying about which state we're in.

I don't post on GAF a lot since I have trouble with wording things correctly or get too nervous, so I generally lurk, but it is SUPER SUPER nice to see all the unity and solidarity on this board with this ruling. Even though there's still a lot of things that need to be better in the US, I'm very happy right now.
 
Not familiar with US legislature, but can a court decide this? Shouldn't new laws, or law amendments pass through the legislative body, congress and senate? Or do the courts in the US have more power than other countries?

And just to add on to the other posts a bit, your concern is basically what one of the dissents was saying (that SCOTUS shouldn't be doing this).
 
anigif_enhanced-buzz-21143-1380261380-13.gif


Colorized pic of Jimmy Stewart's younger days. I thought it looked really modern, like an 80s comedian, and I love the actor.

Today I also learned that he was possibly secretly gay, which was shocking to me but now I'm really glad I have his avatar.

So since I suck at Photoshop, if anyone wants to make him rainbowish...

Ha ha ha my bad. James Dean was also rumoured to be secretly but not so secretly gay.
 
anigif_enhanced-buzz-21143-1380261380-13.gif


Colorized pic of Jimmy Stewart's younger days. I thought it looked really modern, like an 80s comedian, and I love the actor.

Today I also learned that he was possibly secretly gay, which was shocking to me but now I'm really glad I have his avatar.

So since I suck at Photoshop, if anyone wants to make him rainbowish...
WtGsEIZ.png
 

Dawwww. That's just sweet.

Ha ha ha my bad. James Dean was also rumoured to be secretly but not so secretly gay.

He lived in a transparent closet.

This is a really nice video! Cried with happiness seeing all these happy people and now knowing if I ever meet a woman, we can get married without worrying about which state we're in.

I don't post on GAF a lot since I have trouble with wording things correctly or get too nervous, so I generally lurk, but it is SUPER SUPER nice to see all the unity and solidarity on this board with this ruling. Even though there's still a lot of things that need to be better in the US, I'm very happy right now.

Really glad and happy for you. You and everyone deserve this. ENJOY IT!!
 
Anyone who says the Supreme Court haven't read the constitution need to read the constitution.

Well what gets me is when people throw out the argument that, "This isn't what the founding fathers had in mind." No shit! They knew situations would arise that they can't detail in a document that is a product of it's time. It's like some people expect every legal argument/situation to be written and settled in it. That's why constitutional fundamentalists crack me up.
 
The part I finding the most interesting is now there is going to be a generation of kids who are going to grow up with marriage equality being the norm.

Neat.
 
Colorized pic of Jimmy Stewart's younger days. I thought it looked really modern, like an 80s comedian, and I love the actor.

Today I also learned that he was possibly secretly gay, which was shocking to me but now I'm really glad I have his avatar.

So since I suck at Photoshop, if anyone wants to make him rainbowish...

You do know he was a hardcore conservative right?
 
Great news! Good job, USA! Let us wish for gay marriage to spread to the other countries of the world just as it spreaded from state to state until it was universal :)
 

I just was informed you did this and thanks a ton! You actually brought out more color from the original pic.


Fucking amazing.

You do know he was a hardcore conservative right?

And a closet gay. I still love the actor even if his politics don't match mine. I love the pic as a fan because it's a rare pic of him at such a young age in color and with his clothing and the detail it almost looks like a modern day picture.
 
Well what gets me is when people throw out the argument that, "This isn't what the founding fathers had in mind." No shit! They knew situations would arise that they can't detail in a document that is a product of it's time. It's like some people expect every legal argument/situation to be written and settled in it. That's why constitutional fundamentalists crack me up.

Nor abolition
Nor women's suffrage.

Completely silly argument.let's you know that they know they lost on the merits.

I know it says equality but this is not what they had in mind!
 
Well what gets me is when people throw out the argument that, "This isn't what the founding fathers had in mind." No shit! They knew situations would arise that they can't detail in a document that is a product of it's time. It's like some people expect every legal argument/situation to be written and settled in it. That's why constitutional fundamentalists crack me up.
Yup. We hear all the time, "thats not what the 14th Amendment was written for; it was adopted after the Civil War for the newly-freed slaves!"

But this ignores the well-documented process of drafting, editing, and adopting the Amendment - including the authors' intent for Equal Protection to be broadly applicable, even beyond issues surrounding race.

A great article detailing the edit:

How One of the Most Important Edits in U.S. History Paved the Way for Marriage Equality
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/...amendment_paved_the_way_for_gay_marriage.html

Had the 14th Amendment's original language been adopted, we would've seen a much weaker case before the court, based on Due Process penumbras and vaguely-defined concepts of "liberty" and "dignity." The edit they adopted made this case much closer to a slam dunk.. and it took away the whole ridiculous "they only meant to cover race" argument.


Edit:
Can anyone put the "Love" graphic over the bottom half of my RBG avatar? For some reason I can't get paint to overlay it. Very embarrassing.. (Thanks!)
 
As a gay man who has spent his entire life in one of the most "southern" of Southern states, I must say the salty tears of bigots over the past day have been absolutely delicious.
 
Thanks for that little "Love" transparency, Fuzzy. :)

Thank you very much, Yrael.

And to Klaytmore and to Enk. I've saved all three of your avatars and will switch between them!


Edit: And to hateradio and to Kangi. Thanks so much everyone! Again, I will use all.
 
I have thoroughly read the whole post these two days and I am especially happy to see all these photos of happy newlyweds. Wish them all the best!

I am a single straight male (well... let me wait until age 65 :p) but I still wish we have the same thing over here (and a bunch more other freedoms but that's beside the point).

All those bigots' reactions are disheartening but it is understandable. Even in front of insurmountable evidence some people still stick to creation or 'intelligent' design. It is hard to change opinions, we just need to make sure their opinions affect public policy as little as possible.

btw would anyone make the fur on my avatar rainbow color? thanks in advance :)

edit: Maybe this will provide you guys with the perspective in my own country. This is from one of the Confucian scholar.

Confucianism does not discriminate against homosexuality. They can have whatever sexual orientation they want and their own pursuit of happiness. However, Confucianism also thinks that they should also carry on Confucian responsibility such as procreation and begetting offspring. In other words, familial responsibility is more important than personal happiness.

This kind of rhetoric about "family values" are the direct cause of many "fake marriage" cases, where gays and lesbians marry a person of the opposite sex, have a child, and then divorced. Sometimes these marriages ended tragically, and gay people bear a lot of social stigma because of this as they are the "cheater" here.
 
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