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In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled June 26 that married same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits, and declined to decide a case from California, effectively allowing same-sex marriages there.
The decision voids a section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was adopted with bipartisan support in Congress in 1996 to deny all benefits and recognition to same-sex couples.
After the news broke, FIU News asked students on social media what they thought of the decision. Natalie Merola tweeted, “It’s vindicating that #SCOTUS crushed the ideologies of #DOMA. May we continue to revolutionize the history of marriage in the U.S.”
Michael Collado said, “#
Alumnus Christian Williams ’12 wrote on Facebook: “I’m so proud to be an American. And I’m proud to be a part of the LGBT community. I learn more about the community every day, and the battle to earn our civil rights makes me more and more proud to be a part of it…. When I do meet my soul mate, get married and – possibly – have a child, I’ll look back on this day with the greatest sense of pride.”
College of Law professor Jose Gabilondo sat down with FIU News earlier today to explain key points of the landmark decision and what it all means. Gabilondo has published extensively on how law and legal institutions promote heterosexual supremacy at the expense of equal rights for gays, lesbians and other sexual minorities. His articles have critiqued straight supremacy in marriage, legal education, religious expression and the treatment of young people.
He has chaired the Association of American Law Schools’ Section of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues and the Law School Admissions Council Subcommittee on GLBT issues. His work on heterosexual identity has been used in court-ordered diversity training for Florida judges and judicial staff. He regularly lectures on the issues, comments in the Spanish-language media and debates opponents of gay marriage in a variety of fora.
Back in April when the high court first heard the cases, Gabilondo and Rebecca Mae Salokar, chair and associate professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations, explained Proposition 8 and DOMA.
Salokar, has published articles and book chapters on state constitutional change, state judicial elections and campaign speech, judicial selection, and legal representation for Congress. While her teaching interests center on law and courts, her research interests bridge the disciplines of law and political science. Most recently, her research has been in the area of gay and lesbian families and the law, and she has worked on cases involving same-sex adoptions in Florida.
She is quoted in media on issues of judicial politics; constitutional law and politics; gender and law; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) politics.
What do you think of the Supreme Court’s ruling? Leave your comment below.
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By the article you wrote it seems no one liked DOMA, when in reality the majority of the people in the country support it. A decision by a handful of people, disregarding what the majority of the country wants is not right. It’s definitely a sad day when you see religious values being destroyed.
Actually… Polls are showing that people are more comfortable with same sex marriage. And marriage has since before Christian religion, been a civil contract. And is exclusively a civil contract in the U.S..
An individual’s religious beliefs do not hold sway over the law of the land.
Agreed, Martha!
“Almost equal” in the U.S.A. = UNEQUAL in Florida. These decisions have not changed the lives of most gay, married or “want to be married” Floridians. A 20-year relationship with all the burdens and joys that have been shared between two people who love each other are no more recognized in Florida today than they were last week before these decisions were made. In short, there’s much more to be done, and it must be done state by state. It’s time for change in our own home state and it will be our young people who make it happen. It’s time to sign a new petition for a constitutional amendment permitting marriage equality in Florida. And it’s time for our young people to once again, “rock the vote.” YOU can make the difference between a state that discriminates and treats people differently, and a state that recognizes the importance of marriage and family.
Unfortunately, this is a huge step backward into the days of the Greek. I don’t understand how this is to be celebrated, as it is very regressive.
Gay people have been around since the beginning of time. And were accept even in the Early days of Christianity. In fact the word “homosexual” was not introduced into the bible until the 1940’s. Before it was a reference to prostitutes in pagan temples that used sex as a sacrament. The loving relationship of two people regardless of gender is not what the bible is talking about. Idolatry, accepting other Gods, are what those passages refer to.
Marriage is between a man and a woman. End of argument. It is a sin in God’s eyes for a man to lay with a man and a woman to lay with a woman. May God help us all. This is a shameful act that is despicable.
Wake up FIU, turn from from sinful ways!! The bible says, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Choose life!
I love to read all these “Marriage is between a man and woman, blah, blah blah, ect” comments. It really brightens my day. Get over it already. The country is progressing forward, while you morons are stuck in the Dark Ages worshipping a man that lives in the sky. And newsflash, more than 60% of the U.S. supports gay marriage, so Martha, might want to check those facts and stop listening to Faux News hm?
Biblical historians have vetted the bible and other documents written at the same time period(s), and discovered that what the bible refers to is not describing a healthy relationship between two adults. The laws of Leviticus which you are referring to were a purity code to define Jewish people from Gentiles. And Jesus Christ gave his life to fulfill the law. If you read the bible, you’ll notice that Jesus Christ never once said anything about LGBT people. Any references were supplied by humans. If it was such a great sin, why isn’t mention in either the Ten Commandments or in Proverbs 6: 16-19? Marriage is marriage. Regardless of the sexual orientation of the couple. Jesus even approved of same sex marriage! There is an iconograph from Mount Sinai depicting the marriage of Sts. Bacchus and Sergius. Two male saints. And the officiate was non other than Jesus Christ himself. To define marriage without exploring all of the facts, is to make a false statement.
PLEASE NOTE: My civil rights are not up for a vote. That’s why they call them “rights.” My civil rights are not to be controlled by the parts of the particular Holy book that you choose to believe. Marriage is a CIVIL CONTRACT, that may or may not be performed in a religious setting. The United States was founded in part by people trying to escape from competing and conflicting religious dogma enshrined as law. There are 50,000 + denominations just in christianity alone– which of them gets to make the rules for GLBTTQ people to live under? How about we live as the founding fathers suggested, free from religious tyranny? Works for me– and apparently for the SCOTUS, who hold the rule of law under the US Constitution as superior to rule under the laws of whichever religious group du jour is the loudest in protest of everything they consider wrong.