Supreme Court Stays Virginia Marriages, Inflicts Harm on Gays and Their Families

As many past posts on this blog have laid out in detail, the only true objection to same sex marriages derives from religious based bigotry.  All the other "arguments" do not hold water - as a string of federal court rulings have laid out in detail - and the Christofascists, their political whores in the Republican Party, and bigoted United States Supreme Court justices want to punish gays and withhold civil legal rights solely because of non-adherence to Christofascist hate, ignorance embracing and fear based religious beliefs.  Sadly, today the United States Supreme Court stayed the ruling of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit which would have allowed gay marriages to commence tomorrow morning in Virginia.  While one can hope the Court will ultimately strike down same sex marriage bans nationwide very soon, the short term results are that gays and their families are harmed while vile, nasty individuals like Victoria Cobb of The Family Foundation, Virginia's principal hate organization, bigoted cows like Michele McQuigg, Prince William County Circuit Court Clerk, and arrogant asses like Antonin Scalia for at least a short while longer can preen, pat themselves on the back for their self declared piety, and deprive other Americans of civil legal rights while granting special privileges to one religious faith group.  I suspect that the Founding Fathers, who were rightly suspicious of religion and opposed restricting civil rights based on religious belief would find the Court's action today abhorrent.  The Washington Blade has details on the Court's unfortunate action.  Here are excerpts:

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to a stay Wednesday on a federal appeals court’s ruling against Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage, blocking same-sex marriages from taking place this week in the Old Dominion.

Without explanation, the court announced in a single-page order it has stayed the ruling by the U.S. Fourth Circuit of Appeals in Schaefer v. Bostic, which affirmed Virginia’s prohibition on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

Although Chief Justice John Roberts is responsible for stay requests in the Fourth Circuit, the order indicates he referred the matter to the entire court. The vote by the Supreme Court on the decision isn’t included in the order.

The court adds that if the court ends up declining a writ of certiorari to hear the case, the stay will terminate automatically. But if the court decides to hear the case, the stay will continue until judgment is issued.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, said the stay decision from the Supreme Court “underscores of the urgency” of a national resolution in favor of marriage equality.

“Americans across the country are being deprived of the freedom to marry and respect for their lawful marriages, as well as the tangible protections and precious dignity and happiness that marriage brings,” Wolfson said. “It is time for the Supreme Court to affirm what more than thirty courts have held in the past year: marriage discrimination violates the Constitution, harms families, and is unworthy of America.”

Prior to the announcement from the Supreme Court, the anti-gay legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom, which is defending Virginia’s marriage ban on behalf of McQuigg, followed up with a response insisting that a stay on the Fourth Circuit decision is necessary to prevent harm to the state. 

As noted before, I hope history views Victoria Cobb, Michele McQuigg and Antonin Scalia, et al, with the same scorn as segregationists of the past and judges who ruled in favor of slavery and later segregation and bans on interracial marriage.  Hate and bigotry are still hate and bigotry no matter how one tries to wrap it in feigned religiosity.