A new day in America: Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage redefines culture

The long-awaited rulings on California’s Prop.  8, voters’ ban on same-sex marriage, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which denies marriage benefits to same-sex couples, finally came June 26.  The Supreme Court’s decisions remade the law of the land in a large yet very personal way. 

Proponents of marriage equality, including the newly won-over Justice Anthony Kennedy, applauded the decisions.  The voices of celebrants rang out in many cities, and in California, the question on many lips was: When will the weddings begin? 

Yet, because of the parsing nature of the rulings, some observers on both sides of the political spectrum saw a shadow fall across the land. 

The Chronicle’s opinion pages gather together a broad spectrum of opinion, and I have included the video-delivered views of some prominent voices in the same-sex marriage debate, San Francisco Roman Catholic Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone (above) and a pro/con discussion by Lambda Legal board member Laura Brill and John C. Eastman of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence at the Claremont Institute (below). 

The Chronicle celebrates the decisions, extolling the day that the walls of discrimination against gays and lesbians came down.  You can read The Chronicle editorial here. 

Chronicle Editorial Page Editor joins the celebration, but raises this cautionary view about the court’s decision on legal standing.  He quotes California Attorney General Kamala Harris, as saying: “ ‘If it has no impact on your life, if there is no harm to you that results from this law, you can’t challenge the law.  You can have your opinions about it, but you can’t change it.’ ”  And then Diaz notes: “This rationale should give us pause.”  You can read his column here. 

Creators Syndicate columnist Ben Shapiro, a 29-year-old Los Angeles lawyer and conservative columnist, acknowledges that it is only a matter of time — and not very much time — before same-sex marriage will become legal in every state.  But he, too, says the ruling fundamentally changes American culture.  He writes: “Same-sex marriage is not the final nail in the coffin for traditional marriage.  It is just another road sign toward the substitution of government for God.”  You can read his column here. 

Washington Post Writers Group columnist E.J. Dionne Jr., who Chronicle readers regularly read on Mondays, said progressives might savor the happy outcome of the same-sex marriage rulings from a court that in this instance turned from tradition, but make no mistake — most of the conservative court’s rulings are the exercise of raw political power. 

We have of course included some breaking thoughts on the rulings from our readers and are anxious to hear more.  Please submit your letters to the editor through our online form here.