Us supreme court oral arguments gay marriage

By Lawrence Hurley. The landmark ruling represented the biggest moment for LGBT rights in the United States since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in The justices decided that gay and transgender people are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of , which bars employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex as well as race, color, national origin and religion. Workplace bias against gay and transgender employees had remained legal in much of the country, with 28 U. The ruling - in two gay rights cases from Georgia and New York and a transgender rights case from Michigan - recognizes new worker protections in federal law.

The makeup artist. With those examples Justice Elena Kagan summed up the central issue the Supreme Court grappled with yesterday when it heard oral argument in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Which trades or occupations can claim speech, artistry or expression for purposes of the First Amendment? It's not an easy question.

Obergefell v. Hodges , U. The 5—4 ruling requires all fifty states , the District of Columbia , and the Insular Areas to perform and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples on the same terms and conditions as the marriages of opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities. Between January and February , plaintiffs in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee filed federal district court cases that culminated in Obergefell v. After all district courts ruled for the plaintiffs, the rulings were appealed to the Sixth Circuit.

When it overturned the federal Defense of Marriage Act , the Supreme Court didn't say gay and lesbian couples have a right to marry. But the decision established that taking away the benefits of such marriages--if they are granted by states--does unjustified harm to those couples. Under DOMA, wrote Kennedy, "same-sex married couples have their lives burdened, by reason of government decree, in visible and public ways," which he went on to list in detail--from healthcare and bankruptcy protection to the right to be buried in veterans' cemeteries. One of the most important aspects of the decision is what it says about the children of same-sex couples.