The US supreme court has declined to be drawn into the nationwide debate on same-sex marriage, immediately increasing the number of states that permit gay unions from 19 to 24, along with the District of Columbia.
In an unexpected decision, the nine judges declined to hear appeals in five same-sex marriage cases, paving the way for gay and lesbian couples in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin to tie the knot.
The number of states permitting same-sex marriages is expected to rise to 30, as the decision will affect six other states – North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming.
Political gridlock
The supreme court has increasingly been called upon to determine important social causes as political gridlock between Democrats and Republicans has paralysed Congress and stymied any prospect of legislation on contentious issues being considered by lawmakers.
The judges, however, have shown reluctance to consider whether gay marriage is unconstitutional, lagging behind a wave of popular opinion moving in favour of gay marriage. The decision not to hear appeals to state bans on gay marriage may reflect the court’s view that same-sex unions will be legalised without them having to decide on the issue.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll in March found that 59 per cent – a record high – were in favour of gay marriage, up from 38 per cent a decade earlier.
The supreme court has ruled in two cases that had nationwide implications for gay marriage beyond the state-by-state approach.
Public support
In June 2013 a majority of judges ruled that a challenge to California’s same-sex marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, in the case Hollingsworth v Perry, did not have proper standing before the court, allowing gays and lesbians in the state to marry. The case was the last time the court agreed to hear a constitutional challenge to a gay marriage ban.
If the court refused to address the constitutionality of gay marriage in that case, the judges pushed open the door for states to allow same-sex unions in another, United States v Windsor, in the same week. Their decision in that case struck down a key part of the 1996 Defence of Marriage Act, thus granting legally married gay couples the right to receive health, tax, social welfare and other federal benefits. States and federal courts have subsequently used the court's ruling in the Windsor case to rule in favour of same-sex marriage.
In the absence of a definitive supreme court ruling, state and appeals courts have shown greater willingness to approve gay marriage and America’s highest court has so far refused to stand in their way.
