Panel Voices: If the Supreme Court rules in favor of marriage equality this year, what’s next?

Phil Nash, George Gramer, Karl Wesley and Cecil Bethea weigh in on this week’s question. 

Phil Nash

I’m going out on a limb: I think the Supreme Court will repeal DOMA and open doors for same-sex marriage everywhere in the U.S. Most see Justice Kennedy as the key player in a potential 5 to 4 vote, but I wouldn’t rule out Chief Justice Roberts weighing in heavily and pushing the Court to settle this matter once and for all.

Why? The conservative Roberts shocked the nation with his surprise vote to uphold the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”). Many close observers say Roberts is sensitive to the credibility of the Court and his own place in history as a long–serving Chief Justice. Having already served 10 years, he’s 58 and could serve another quarter century or more – a full generation. Roberts undoubtedly understands that momentum for marriage equality is irreversible, as well as how social conservatives opposition handicaps GOP’s chances to broaden its base.

Roberts can settle the issue with the stroke of his pen. With gay marriage off the political table, no politician need face voters with a “yea” or “nay” on their record. Right–wing politicians would demand his head on a platter but privately breathe a sigh of relief.

And once it’s over, chaos will ensue. The GLBT community will stay busy for years pushing public and private institutions to behave according to a new script for love and family life in America.

A former writer and editor at Out Front, Phil Nash is a communications consultant for nonprofit organizations.

George Gramer

The operative word in the panel question is “if.”

The current composition of the U.S. Supreme Court will likely rule on a narrow definition on Perry vs. Swartzenegger (over California Prop. 8), and will likely decide that portions, perhaps all, of President Clinton’s Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

If that happens, some Californians will be able to marry, but other states will still have the ability to decide for themselves what constitutes marriage. The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it for the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The majority of Californians voted for Proposition 8.

States have the right to determine things (like “marriage”) on their own. Colorado and about 30 other states forbid same-sex marriage in their constitutions. In this 2013 legislative session when Colorado Democrats were extreme activists on so many fronts, I saw no spine for them to work to repeal Amendment 43 to the Colorado Constitution declaring that a marriage is between one woman and one man. They simply went for the low–hanging fruit of civil unions.

Most of our state’s legislators have no balls (both literally and figuratively). It is time for them and the governor to put up or shut up.

Iowa native George K. Gramer, Jr. is the president of the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans.

Karl Wesley

What’s next? Equality. A nice thought, isn’t it?

But how do we expect to gain equality when the GLBT community doesn’t treat everyone equally within itself? Consider: young vs. old, gay vs. lesbian, drag queen vs. transgender, out vs. closeted – the list goes on. We can’t even agree on whether it’s the “GLBT” or “LGBT!” Simple things like this allow groups and organizations that are against us to further their argument: “They don’t deserve equal rights because they can’t even get along among themselves and treat each other equal!”

Every individual comes from a unique background, chooses her or his own eclectic style and makes her or his own decisions. Treating someone as a lesser person because of these human attributes is asinine. We are different, but share a common bond in our desire to be treated as equal individuals in this world. Why fight about that when we are at such an exciting and crucial point in our gay history?

If we are a community to speak out against hatred, a community united by a rainbow flag representing every walk of life, a community that is willing to fight to be treated the same as every other human being, we have accept one another as equals first.

So, what’s next? Equality. It’s not an impossible dream.

Karl Wesley is a manager at Charlie’s. He was named Mr. CGRA in 2013 and continues to be active in the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association.

Cecil Bethea

For the Supreme Court to rule in our favor in both cases would be like winning a lottery.

Making the subsequent chanegs would require altering any number of governmental forms. First would be the marriage application. The income tax forms are obvious. Just think of the paper work involving children; school systems would have to cope.

Would each state have to repeal its ban on same-sex marriage, often embedded in state constitutions? Requiring all this foofawrah to be done before the end of this year would be nice, so that the newly–married could take advantage of their new status paying income taxes.

The sociologists will be delighted with same-sex marriage. Already they are surely formatting studies: “A Comparison of Financial Control between Heterosexual and Homosexual Couples”, “The Significance of the Parental Names ‘Daddy’ and ‘Papa,’” or “Difference in Divorce Rates between Gay and Lesbian Couples.” El alia, et alia, ad infinitum.

Yes, there will be obstacles. No matter what, we do want the right to try. The situation is comparable to lunch counter sit–ins at the five and dime stores in the South during the 1950s. I’m sure many of African Americans did not want to eat there; they wanted just the choice. If the Supreme Court rules in our favor, that is what we shall have–a choice.

Cecil Bethea was raised in the South before joining the Air Force, and now calls himself “a Westerner of Southern extraction.”