Right Direction On Gay Marriage

At last there is an air of inevitability around the question of marriage equality now that the United States Supreme Court has, by declining to intervene in lower courts’ rulings, let stand same-sex marriage in five states. Right now 24 states allow gender-blind weddings; that number could reach 30 following Monday’s decision. It’s about time.

At one level, it may seem a non-story here in East Hampton and in New York State, where same-sex couples have enjoyed the right to wed since 2011. However, much as one might enjoy this state’s relatively hands-off approach to such private matters, the battle will not really be won until it is the law of the land. Opponents of gay unions have vowed to continue to press their point, however weighed down it is in a vile and outdated culture of discrimination.

For us, the point is simply that no one — and certainly no government — has the right to tell anyone who to love or whom they can marry. That is a personal, private matter in which the state cannot and must not have a say. The sooner this becomes universal for all Americans, the better.