Same-Sex Couple's Quest for Equality Ends in Indiana Marriage
THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR
By Tim Wiggins
All legal. [link]
By Tim Wiggins
All legal. [link]
- That dramatic swing changed the legal landscape in Indiana on Oct. 6, when the U.S. Supreme refused to take up an appeal of a federal court ruling that found the state's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.
- "In American history," said Paul D. Castillo of Lambda Legal, "there has never been a comparable social phenomenon that has achieved victory so quickly."
- It took nearly 50 years before a majority of Americans no longer opposed interracial marriage, said Frank Newport, editor in chief at Gallup, the national polling firm. That tipping point didn't come until 1997 — 48 years after a court order forced California to lift its interracial marriage ban.
- Even in 1967, when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling made interracial marriage legal in all states, 72 percent of Americans still opposed the idea of blacks and whites marrying.
- When Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2004, a majority of Americans — 55 percent — still were opposed. Yet only seven years later, Newport said, polling showed a majority of Americans for the first time supported same-sex marriage. And public backing has continued to rise since 2011.