Friday, June 26, 2015 Ohioans react to Supreme Court expansion of gay marriage nationwide The Ohio man whose name will be shorthand for the decision reacts as do politicians
Ohio voters amended the state Constitution in 2004 to ban gay marriage, a move the U.S. Supreme Court today says violates the U.S. Constitution.
Jim Obergefell of Cincinnati was lead litigant in the case Obergefell v. Hodges decided today by the Supreme Court.
He sued to be listed as ‘husband’ on the death certificate of his partner John Arthur who died of Lou Gehrig's disease
Obergefell spoke outside the U.S. Supreme Court this morning on his struggle to have their 2013 marriage in Maryland recognized in Ohio.
LISTEN: Obergefel on the victoryOther options: MP3 Download(3:33)
"It's my hope that the term gay marriage will soon be a thing of the past. That from this day forward, it will simply be marriage, and that our nation will be better off because of it."
Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine issued a statement today in which he says his job was to defend the 2004 constitutional
Here's the status of gay-marriage state-by-state:
Permitted by ballot-measure*: Maine, Washington and Maryland
Permitted by state law*: Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and the District of Columbia.
Permitted by state court decision*: California**, Colorado, Connecticut; Iowa, Massachusetts; New Jersey, New Mexico and parts of Missouri**.
Permitted by federal court action, including some that also have other actions: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas**, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
States that ban same-sex marriage or the status is pending court action: Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee (all part of this Supreme Court case), Texas, Alabama, Arizona, parts of Missouri, Mississippi, South Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana, Georgia, North Dakota.
*Not affected by Supreme Court decision.
** California, Missouri and Kansas show up in multiple categories because of multiple rulings.
amendment banning same-sex marriage, but “the Court has now made its decision."
At a rally in Cleveland following the decision, Ohio's U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown says the decision was one of three key victories in the U.S. Supreme Court this week -- the other two being decisions that upheld the Affordable Care Act and ways to deal with housing discrimination.
“We had a Supreme Court -- a Supreme Court that made the right decision on housing discrimination, a Supreme Court that did the right thing on the Affordable Care Act, and now the Supreme Court that did the right thing, finally, on treating our brothers and sisters equally all across the country.”
Ohio's other U.S. senator Rob Portman says he supports gay marriage, but would have preferred voters make the change, not the courts.
“I think marriage equality is something that is important. I’ve stated before that my preference is that this be resolved through the Democratic process because I think you build a more lasting and enduring consensus that way.”
The head of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese, Bishop Richard Lennon, called the decision "deeply disappointing and worrisome."
Ohio lawmakers pushes for mandatory sentences for child abusers
Here's the status of gay-marriage state-by-state:
