Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry and to have their marriages recognized by the states. Today, on June 26, 2017, we look back on this victory as a significant milestone on the long road towards lived and legal equality for LGBTQ families.
Family Equality Council is proud to have played a lead role in elevating the voices of children in the legal briefs that contributed to the eventual successful ruling in Obergefell. In our brief, we stated what we still believe to be the case today:
“The voices of LGBT youth and children of same-sex parents help us understand what the issues before the Court mean for real families. No family has ever been strengthened, and no child has ever been made safer or more secure, by denying same-sex couples the right to marry.”
One of the grown children of a same-sex couple who had been denied the right to marry wrote about his parents:
“They loved me, and that was all that mattered. It’s all that should matter. Indeed, my childhood as the son of lesbian parents was extraordinary in that it was simply ordinary.”
Today, we invite you to join us in celebrating the anniversary of this milestone victory by posting a picture of your love, or of a same-sex marriage you’ve attended, with the hashtag #LoveIsTheLaw. We’ll be posting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and we look forward to seeing your posts too!
As we remember this joyful moment in the recent history of the LGBTQ movement, we also have a responsibility to continue to fight for nationwide non-discrimination protections, greater adoption and foster care rights, and increased security for working LGBTQ parents and their families. Even today, in 2017, LGBTQ people can still can be fired, denied housing or refused service in a restaurant in many states.
Now onward. There’s a long road ahead towards full, lived and legal equality for all members of the LGBTQ community.