Justice Anthony Kennedy faces a simple choice with profound consequences: When the U.S. Supreme Court considers the issue of marriage equality for gays and lesbians does he want to write the next Plessy v. Ferguson or the next Brown v. Board of Education? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit’s recent decision invalidating California’s Proposition 8, which prohibited same-sex marriages, is likely to put the issue of marriage equality before the Supreme Court, and everyone expects that Kennedy will be the deciding vote.
As Kennedy approaches the issue, he knows that it is just a matter of time before gays and lesbians are accorded marriage equality in this country. In the past decade, 10 countries have begun allowing same-sex couples to marry: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa and Sweden. In recent weeks, three more state legislatures, in Maryland, New Jersey and Washington, have adopted legislation allowing gays and lesbians to marry — although New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the bill in his state. Recent opinion polls show a majority of Americans now favor allowing gay marriage, and a 2011 poll found that 70 percent of those ages 18 to 34 support gay marriage.
