Blog | Things South Carolina refused to budge on despite being on wrong side of history: Slavery, Jim Crow, inter-racial, now gay marriage
The Fourth Circuit has already invalidated South Carolina’s unconstitutional ban on same-sex marriage - meaning gay people’s rights to equality were confirmed.
The Supreme Court refused to overturn that ruling, which once again confirmed those rights.
But South Carolina vowed to fight any way, in the form of Attorney General Alan Wilson and Gov. Nikki Haley.
They appealed, and a federal judge ruled against the state’s bull-headedness.
They kept fighting and other judges essentially said get lost.
They took another stab at the Supreme Court, and at about 10 this morning, the state was denied once again.
Still, Wilson said he plans to fight on - even as gay people can start getting married in the state today.
From the Post and Courier:
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request to halt gay marriage in South Carolina, a major blow to S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson's efforts to defend the state's gay marriage ban.
The ruling came down around 10 a.m. Thursday. Chief Justice John Roberts issued the denial with Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting.
Wilson said he is not giving up. He hopes the high court will consider a case out of a Cincinnati-based circuit that could establish a national rule for all states. Today, same-sex marriage is legal in 35 states.
"Despite today's refusal to grant our motion, the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet resolved conflicting rulings by federal appeals courts on the issue of same sex marriage," Wilson said in a statement. "When the U.S. Supreme Court decides to consider the case, our office will be supporting the position of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is more consistent with South Carolina State law, which upholds the unique status of traditional marriage."
This is the latest chapter in the state’s history of stubbornness.
It won’t concede to progress unless forced to by the courts or the barrel of guns, as in the Civil War when it refused to relinquish its “right” to own people, and when it refused to follow the 1954 ruling that killed Jim Crow, and when it was one of the final states in the union to remove an inter-racial marriage ban from the South Carolina constitution.
We kick, we scream, we throw temper tantrums, we accuse others of disrespecting our rights - all in an effort to keep some people as second-class citizens.
Why do we act this way?
This story was originally published November 20, 2014 at 10:47 AM with the headline "Blog | Things South Carolina refused to budge on despite being on wrong side of history: Slavery, Jim Crow, inter-racial, now gay marriage."