WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court declared Friday that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States.
Gay and lesbian couples already could marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The court’s 5-4 ruling means the remaining 14 states, in the South and Midwest, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.
Gay rights supporters cheered, danced and wept outside the court when the decision was announced.
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. It came on the anniversary of two of those earlier decisions.
“No union is more profound than marriage,” Kennedy wrote, joined by the court’s four more liberal justices.
The stories of the people asking for the right to marry “reveal that they seek not to denigrate marriage but rather to live their lives, or honor their spouses’ memory, joined by its bond,” Kennedy said.
The four dissenting justices each filed a separate opinion explaining their views, but they agreed that states and their voters should have been left with the power to decide who can marry.
“This court is not a legislature. Whether same-sex marriage is a good idea should be of no concern to us,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in dissent. Roberts read a summary of his dissent from the bench, the first time he has done so in nearly 10 years as chief justice.
“If you are among the many Americans – of whatever sexual orientation – who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision,” Roberts said. “But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.”
Justice Antonin Scalia said he is not concerned so much about same-sex marriage, but about “this court’s threat to American democracy.” Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas also dissented.
Structure of the Lead
WHO- same-sex couples
WHEN- not given
WHAT- same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States.
WHY- people asked for the right to marry
WHERE- Washington
HOW - the Supreme Court declared the right to the same-sex couples
keywords
1. enforce 強調
2. Supreme Court 最高法院
3. culmination 極點;最高點
4. litigation 訴訟;起訴
5. profound 深切的;深奧的
6. denigrate 汙衊;毀謗;詆毀
7. spouse 配偶
8. dissent 不同意的;有不同意見的
9.chief 主要的
1. enforce 強調
2. Supreme Court 最高法院
3. culmination 極點;最高點
4. litigation 訴訟;起訴
5. profound 深切的;深奧的
6. denigrate 汙衊;毀謗;詆毀
7. spouse 配偶
8. dissent 不同意的;有不同意見的
9.chief 主要的
