By Ilyse Kramer
On Monday, October 6, The Supreme Court refused to consider the appeals attempting to ban same-sex marriage in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. This decision left same-sex marriage legal in these five states.
On Tuesday, October 7,a three-judge panel at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco voted unanimously to strike down the same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada. Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt, who was on the panel, stated: “‘the lessons of our constitutional history are clear: Inclusion strengthens, rather than weakens our most important institutions.”’ These rulings mark an exciting turning point—the majority of The United States has legalized same-sex marriage.
This has led to a furor of legal challenges and changes over the last several days. In addition to the five states affected by the ruling, several states under the jurisdiction of those federal appeals courts have also started on the path to legalizing same sex marriage. Marriage equality has additionally come to Nevada and West Virginia due to the refusal of the Supreme Court to take up these cases.
Additionally, many pending cases in unaffected states have filed requests for summary judgment based on the Supreme Court’s decision to not hear appeals in same sex marriage cases.