The states affected by Friday's SCOTUS ruling are: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, most of Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
Gay and lesbian Americans have the same right to marry as any other couples, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Friday in a historic 5-4 ruling, deciding one of America's most contentious and emotional legal questions. Celebrations and weddings quickly followed in states where they had been forbidden.
Laura Janney, director of Muncie's OUTreach, said about 100 people gathered Friday evening at Unitarian Universalist Church of Muncie to enjoy cake and champagne in celebration of the ruling. OUTreach is a support group for LGBTQ youths under 21.
Janney said the ruling is still a win to LGBTQ Hoosiers even though same-sex marriage has been legal in Indiana since 2014.
“I think that it really helps a lot, because in Indiana it wasn’t something that was actually wanted as much as the court mandated,” Janney said. “I think it helps Indiana to see that the majority of people really want this.”
Even with the legalization of same-sex marriage, Janney said there’s still a lot of work left to improve the lives of LGBTQ people, especially youths. She said she’s worked with kids who have undergone conversion therapy or been kicked out of churches because of their sexual orientation.
“Our problem lies in our rural areas … it’s still very bigoted and still very fearful … there’s still a lot of work to do there,” Janney said. “I think for Indiana the next step is the right for equal rights … people can still be fired, they can be evicted and the kids — the bullying the kids go through is just horrendous.”
Even though Indiana's LGBTQ community is still struggling for acceptance, national approval has shot up in recent years. This is in stark contrast to the widespread outcry against a 2004 ruling by the high court in Massachusetts legalizing same-sex marriage there, prompting several states to ban it and galvanizing conservative voter turnout during George W. Bush's re-election campaign.
Just over a decade later, Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion was clear and firm: "The court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. No longer may this liberty be denied to them."
Locally, Muncie celebrated the bill passing by lighting up City Hall in rainbow lights. The Unity Lights will be up until Independence Day.
Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler has been encouraging his social media followers to go see the lights.
"Proud of my city tonight," he tweeted. "Beautiful lights at City Hall."
There are an estimated 390,000 married same-sex couples in the United States, according to UCLA's Williams Institute, which tracks the demographics of gay and lesbian Americans. Another 70,000 couples living in states that do not currently permit them to wed would get married in the next three years, the institute says. Roughly 1 million same-sex couples, married and unmarried, live together in the United States, the institute says.
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