Marriage Equality: Good Work, But We’re Not Done Yet

June 26th is a big day for equality. On June 26, 2003, in Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court held that the Texas statute which criminalized certain sexual conduct between individuals of the same sex was unconstitutional. On June 26, 2013, in Windsor v. United States, the Supreme Court held that section three of the “Defense of Marriage Act” was unconstitutional, and therefore the federal government could not discriminate against married lesbian and gay couples for federal benefits and protections.

Today, the Supreme Court issued the long awaited decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed in another State. In a matter of twelve years the United States has gone from one state with marriage equality to marriage equality becoming the law of the land. Check out this cool gif that illustrates the timeline.

Nationwide marriage equality was long-overdue, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.

In twenty-one states (including Pennsylvania) there is no workplace anti-discrimination law which protects LGBT employees. For many people this means that they can get married today and be fired tomorrow.

In Pennsylvania right now House Bill 300 and Senate Bill 300 have the potential to fix this injustice. HB and SB 300 would amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act to provide freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in employment and housing and public accommodation. Call your legislators and ask that they push for these bills to become law.

Today our nation stands on the right side of history. Let’s finish the job.