The USA Supreme Court ruling on Defence of Marriage Act DOMA is here:
This landmark ruling struck down a controversial federal law that discriminated against gay couples in the USA, delivering a stunning victory on Wednesday to campaigners who fought for years to overturn it.
The court also dismissed a separate appeal against same-sex marriage laws in California, restoring the right to gay marriage in the largest US state and nearly doubling the number of Americans living in states where gay marriage would be legal.
Together, the two rulings mark the biggest advance in civil liberties in the USA for gay people in a generation, and come amid growing political and international recognition that same-sex couples deserve equal legal treatment.
BBC News report here.
UK Guardian newspaper report here.
President Obama's Statement below..
" I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. This was discrimination enshrined in law. It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it. We are a people who declared that we are all created equal – and the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.
This ruling is a victory for couples who have long fought for equal treatment under the law; for children whose parents’ marriages will now be recognized, rightly, as legitimate; for families that, at long last, will get the respect and protection they deserve; and for friends and supporters who have wanted nothing more than to see their loved ones treated fairly and have worked hard to persuade their nation to change for the better.
So we welcome today’s decision, and I’ve directed the Attorney General to work with other members of my Cabinet to review all relevant federal statutes to ensure this decision, including its implications for Federal benefits and obligations, is implemented swiftly and smoothly. [...]
The laws of our land are catching up to the fundamental truth that millions of Americans hold in our hearts: when all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free."
Click here for an article on ten things that can now happen in the USA as a result of the Supreme Court Rulings.
Click here for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) response to the historic ruling, which says :
"Today is a tragic day for marriage and our nation. The Supreme Court has dealt a profound injustice to the American people by striking down in part the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The Court got it wrong."
Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia has posted a variety of official Church responses here.
Click here for a response to the USCCB, from Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director, New Ways Ministry on the USA Supreme Court’s decisions about marriage equality.
Another Catholic response here to the US Bishops by Daniel Byrne, a Jesuit Volunteer working with Catholics United in 2012-2013.
World Map showing countries where gay marriage is legal here.
Click here for a useful article "On Gay Marriage In Churches, and how Stances Vary Among Religions, Clergy, Members."
I am one of several heterosexual Catholics who hope that my church can learn to open up a more mature debate on sexual ethics in the future.
I embrace all my American gay brothers and sisters for whom this ruling brings some measure of justice and equality under the law.
This landmark ruling struck down a controversial federal law that discriminated against gay couples in the USA, delivering a stunning victory on Wednesday to campaigners who fought for years to overturn it.
The court also dismissed a separate appeal against same-sex marriage laws in California, restoring the right to gay marriage in the largest US state and nearly doubling the number of Americans living in states where gay marriage would be legal.
Together, the two rulings mark the biggest advance in civil liberties in the USA for gay people in a generation, and come amid growing political and international recognition that same-sex couples deserve equal legal treatment.
BBC News report here.
UK Guardian newspaper report here.
President Obama's Statement below..
" I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. This was discrimination enshrined in law. It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it. We are a people who declared that we are all created equal – and the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.
This ruling is a victory for couples who have long fought for equal treatment under the law; for children whose parents’ marriages will now be recognized, rightly, as legitimate; for families that, at long last, will get the respect and protection they deserve; and for friends and supporters who have wanted nothing more than to see their loved ones treated fairly and have worked hard to persuade their nation to change for the better.
So we welcome today’s decision, and I’ve directed the Attorney General to work with other members of my Cabinet to review all relevant federal statutes to ensure this decision, including its implications for Federal benefits and obligations, is implemented swiftly and smoothly. [...]
The laws of our land are catching up to the fundamental truth that millions of Americans hold in our hearts: when all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free."
Click here for an article on ten things that can now happen in the USA as a result of the Supreme Court Rulings.
Click here for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) response to the historic ruling, which says :
"Today is a tragic day for marriage and our nation. The Supreme Court has dealt a profound injustice to the American people by striking down in part the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The Court got it wrong."
Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia has posted a variety of official Church responses here.
Click here for a response to the USCCB, from Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director, New Ways Ministry on the USA Supreme Court’s decisions about marriage equality.
Another Catholic response here to the US Bishops by Daniel Byrne, a Jesuit Volunteer working with Catholics United in 2012-2013.
World Map showing countries where gay marriage is legal here.
Click here for a useful article "On Gay Marriage In Churches, and how Stances Vary Among Religions, Clergy, Members."
I am one of several heterosexual Catholics who hope that my church can learn to open up a more mature debate on sexual ethics in the future.
I embrace all my American gay brothers and sisters for whom this ruling brings some measure of justice and equality under the law.
A
mature sexual ethics would go a long way to healing this wounded
Church.” - See more at:
http://pressreleases.religionnews.com/2013/03/07/confessions-of-a-gay-married-priest-a-must-read-for-cardinals-and-justices/#sthash.ThGoONkL.dpuf
A
mature sexual ethics would go a long way to healing this wounded
Church.” - See more at:
http://pressreleases.religionnews.com/2013/03/07/confessions-of-a-gay-married-priest-a-must-read-for-cardinals-and-justices/#sthash.ThGoONkL.dpuf
A
mature sexual ethics would go a long way to healing this wounded
Church.” - See more at:
http://pressreleases.religionnews.com/2013/03/07/confessions-of-a-gay-married-priest-a-must-read-for-cardinals-and-justices/#sthash.ThGoONkL.dpuf
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