And here we go...

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as well as Proposition 8.  As you may know, both have been ruled unconstitutional by lower federal courts.  In fact, the anti-gay side has lost in every federal court ruling so far.

Well, the buck is about to stop.  The Supreme Court will be hearing arguments in the cases sometime in March with a ruling anticipated in June.  I know that there will be a fair hearing in the case, but it's still nerve-wracking to sit and wait on this one.  James and I had to sit in front of a TV to see if the California Supreme Court would keep our marriage intact after Prop 8 passed.  Now we have to sit and wait to see if the rights of our brothers and sisters will be restored.  We'll also see if DOMA will finally be ruled unconstitutional once and for all...at least Section 3 of it.  We'll still not be able to move to another state outside the nine states that currently allow gay marriage and be considered legally married since none of the lawsuits pending at the court address anything but the denial of federal benefits such as Social Security and the right to file joint tax returns.

So, I guess we wait.  The Court gave themselves an out in both cases...they could rule on a technicality called Article III standing...basically whether or not the defendants can show they are in a position to bring a case before the court.  Technically, they could decide that the defendants don't have standing and let the lower court decision stand without ever ruling on the merits of the case.  To me, it's a chicken-shit maneuver, but let's face it...the Justices may not be ready to rule in favor of gay marriage for the entire country.  And they may not want to hit millions of folks in the LGBT community with a ruling that denies them basic citizenship rights for another generation.  They may decide to split the decision with basically a win for the gay community on a technicality in the prop 8 case and a win for the anti-gay forces inasmuch as they don't force same sex marriage on the entire country.

I don't see them doing that with the DOMA case.  It would only impact gay married couples in the states they are already married.  It's pretty much a no-brainer...and DOMA is so blatantly unconstitutional that no one would be surprised when they rule it as such.

Sending blessings and light to everyone today...whatever side you are on in this situation, please find your peace and remain patient until it is resolved next year.