Hoyer Statement on Supreme Court's Decision to Consider Marriage Equality Cases

WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) released the following statement today after the Supreme Court announced it will hear cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned district court rulings that struck down those states’ ban on marriage for same-sex couples:

“Just two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Windsor that the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution requires the Federal government to recognize all lawfully married couples.  Today’s announcement by the Supreme Court means that the nation’s highest court will now rule on one of the most critical civil rights issues of the 21^st century: Whether all loving and committed couples will have the same opportunity to marry under state law.  

“Our nation’s finest moments have come when it has unflinchingly confronted and closed the gap between what its Constitution promises to its citizens and how its laws actually apply to them.  I am hopeful the Supreme Court will close this gap even more when it decides this case.”