Washington -- The Supreme Court's powerful language striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act paves the way to topple same-sex marriage bans in more than three dozen states, from Texas to Mississippi to Pennsylvania, lawyers involved in the court's landmark gay rights rulings said Wednesday.
The two decisions, including one that promises to lift California's ban on same-sex marriage under Proposition 8, will lead to further state challenges, experts said.
Same-sex marriage is legal in 12 states, the District of Columbia and now very likely in California, the nation's most populous state. Interstate conflicts over spousal rights, ranging from adoption to hospital visits, are sure to bloom.
Looking to other states
With sweeping civil rights language grounded in the constitutional language of equal protection and due process, Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in United States vs. Windsor threw out Section 3 of the 1996 law known as DOMA.
"The principles the court articulated today mean that we are going to have marriage equality in all 50 states," said David Boies, who with former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, led the attack on Prop. 8. "It's just a question of time now."
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Gay-marriage-rulings-herald-end-to-bans-experts-4624962.php
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