As the U.S. Supreme Court convenes Tuesday to hear the cases on marriage equality, Illinois couples and families who are already protected under our state’s freedom to marry are as interested and concerned as people living in the state’s where that freedom is not yet recognized.
Whether states must recognize the same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions is one of the two issues before the court. That question is of particular importance to couples who can marry in Illinois.
Whether the states are required by the Constitution, particularly the 14th Amendment, to license a marriage between two people of the same sex is the second question before the court.
Only a national recognition of the equal treatment required by our Constitution can bring the freedom to marry throughout the U.S. and end that inequity.