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Does this formally mean that gay marriage has been legal in the US since the 18th century, but no one noticed until recently? (half-serious question) Congratul
by Al-Khwarizmi 11y ago
Does this formally mean that gay marriage has been legal in the US since the 18th century, but no one noticed until recently? (half-serious question)
Congratulations to Americans and to gays worldwide for this great step forward.
- monocasa 11y agoBasically. That's how most constitutional arguments work.
- ninkendo 11y agoStrictly speaking it means the laws against gay marriage were themselves illegal. (As with any law deemed unconstitutional.) It's a matter of word choice to say "gay marriage was always legal" versus "anti-gay marriage laws were always illegal". There's some semantic difference between the two, but I'm not sure what the difference is from a judicial standpoint.
- bane 11y agoThat's basically correct. It's always been legal, and efforts to stop gay marriage have basically been efforts to narrow the scope of this already legal right.