Supreme Court strikes down remaining the bans on gay marriage, allowing gays and lesbians to marry in all 50 states.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex marriage is a legal right across the United States.
It means the 14 states with bans on same-sex marriage will no longer be able to enforce them.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that the plaintiffs asked “for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
The landmark ruling from America’s high court means that all states, even in the deeply conservative South, must allow same-sex couples to marry.
The decision was met with cheers and elation from gay rights activists gathered on the on the marble steps of the Supreme Court but despair from conservative groups.
Marriages are expected to begin in every corner of the US in the coming days and weeks, as the ruling filters down to the state level.
Couples in hold-out states including Texas, Kansas, Louisiana and Florida are already planning to marry.
The landmark ruling comes on the heels of a similar case in Mexico, where the Mexican Supreme Court also ruled in favour of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS