Landmark US rulings for same-sex marriage

On 26 June, the US Supreme Court handed down two landmark rulings in relation to same-sex marriage. The first ruling, United States v Windsor, found the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) to be unconstitutional. This legislation was enacted 17 years ago under the Clinton administration and defines marriage as between as man and a woman. It restricts the payment of federal benefits to opposite sex couples and denies same-sex couples these same benefits. DOMA also affected married partners of gay Americans as they were not recognised under the immigration system, thus leaving couples of different nationalities separated.

Kieran Rose, chair of GLEN (Gay and Lesbian Equality Network) said, “This outcome is wonderful for lesbian and gay citizens of the US. It is also wonderful news for Irish lesbian and gay people married to US citizens. While the US citizen could move to Ireland on the basis of their marriage, the Irish citizen was unable to move to the US. This judgment now means that Irish spouses of lesbian or gay US citizens will be able to live in the US with their husband or wife.”

The second ruling, Hollingsworth v Perry, concerned California’s same sex marriage ban. Under that state's Proposition 8 law, only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California. The ban was added to the state’s constitution in 2008 through a ballot initiative. Same-sex marriage had been recognised in California earlier that year through a state Supreme Court decision. The law was challenged in federal court by two same-sex couples and it had been declared unconstitutional. In the Supreme Court ruling last week, the Court found that the people who put proposition 8 on the ballots in 2008 did not have the constitutional authority or standing to defend the law in the federal courts. The result of the ruling is that California can now start to issue valid marriage licenses to same-sex couples. 

Click here to read a press release from GLEN. 

Click here to read an article from the Irish Times. 

In related news, a Court of Appeal decision in Northern Ireland may pave the way for same-sex adoption. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission challenged the existing law banning unmarried couples from adoption. In October 2012 Northern Ireland's High Court found that this discriminated against those in civil partnerships, including same-sex couples. The Department of Health appealed the High Court decision, but last week the Court of Appeal upheld this ruling. The removal of the ban would bring Northern Ireland in line with adoption laws in England and Wales. The Department of Health may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court in London.

Click here to read an article from thejournal.ie about the case.

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