WASHINGTON — After fighting state by state for more than 20 years, the same-sex marriage movement is riding an extraordinary wave of legal victories as the Supreme Court prepares to decide whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry nationwide.
The justices meet for the first time today to consider a thick pile of pending appeals, and they have before them gay-marriage cases from five states. In all five, the ban on same-sex marriages was struck down. But unlike most appeals, both sides — the winners as well as the losers — are asking justices to hear the case.
“It’s a near certainty the court will decide it this term and definitively answer” whether same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, said Irv Gornstein, a law professor who heads Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute.
Gay-rights advocates who once steered clear of the Supreme Court are now eager for a ruling. “There is no question we are winning, but winning is not won,” said Evan Wolfson, founder of Freedom to Marry. “It’s time for the Supreme Court to finish the job.”