Editorial: Gay marriage is legal
The institution that represents this definition of marriage remains as operational and sacred as ever in spite of the Supreme Court's decision
La comunidad LGBT fue muy apoyada por la administración Obama. Crédito: EFE | EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS
SPANISH VERSION
The Supreme Court ruling about gay marriage is a victory for individual rights. It is a legal recognition of the relationship and public commitment by two people in love who want to share their lives with their partner. This is a right that is now irrevocable.
Of course, the court decision will bother some people who will see it as contrary to their personal values and religious principles, that define marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman with the purpose of procreation. The institution that represents this definition of marriage remains as operational and sacred as ever in spite of the Supreme Court’s decision. Those views deserve all the respect, but that does not mean that they should be the only interpretation of love in a society defined by its diversity.
“They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right,” wrote judge Anthony Kennedy in the majority decision, making it clear that this is nothing less than a legal and constitutional matter. The fact that civil gay marriage is recognized in all states is not an attack on religion.
The four dissenting judges opposed the ruling by saying that a gay marriage right does not exist in the Constitution, and that therefore it is an invention of activist judges. The debate between a restrictive interpretation of the Constitution as the Founding Fathers intended, or its view as a living document whose value lies precisely in its adaptability to modern situations, is old. This is a wise decision because it takes into account realities of the 21st Century society that would have been unimaginable for the 18th Century founders.
On the other hand, some states have a history of discrimination that often made necessary the intervention of the Supreme Court to protect minorities from the dictatorship of the majorities. A new chapter of that story was written yesterday.
This is an important moment for the United States, as it has been every time a group of people who have been repeatedly discriminated against can claim without a doubt that they, too, are protected by the Constitution.
