This is the first of a six part series looking at Marriage Equality and the Supreme Court. I will start the series, before the Court hears oral arguments and help articulate what the issues before the court are and how they impact Pennsylvania. After oral arguments have been made, we will revisit this question to see if the activity at the court offers any new perspectives. And lastly, after the courts decision is released, we will again revisit this to see what exactly the ruling may mean.
The link below takes you to the recent podcast I did, talking to Ted Martin of Equality PA about how the Supreme Court decisions regarding same-sex marriage may impact Pennsylvania. Ted estimates there are well over 1000 same-sex married couples in Pennsylvania, and there are thousands more, where two partners are in a long term committed relationship. All of these individuals are potentially impacted in some way by the Supreme Court’s rulings. But exactly how is the question?
Ted elaborated on the two cases before SCOTUS, and how each might impact us here in Pennsylvania, and we discussed how these potential outcomes fit with a larger effort for LGBTQ Equality here in the state in all areas such as Hate Crimes as well as employment, housing, and public accommodation discrimination protections.
A point that was raised that I hadn’t thought about at all really was the financial cost to corporations, businesses and possibly to the state relating to the Court’s rulings. As a person, in a long term committed relationship (15 years) I am all too aware of the financial costs that impact my life directly. However, especially the fact that the State of PA could incur expenses was a new idea for me, and creates new opportunities for the State to reverse it’s very discriminatory ways. The current conservative leadership in the State claims to care about lowering costs, so doing away with discriminatory practices like the State’s DOMA would be a great start.
Episodes 2 and 3 of this series will air in a little over a week, and in those podcasts, and my guests and I will explore what new information may have surfaced from listening to the oral arguments presented before the court. My BlogTalkRadio podcast episodes are always done as a live call-in show, and I invite all my readers to listen and call in with a question for my guests. As the details for these episodes are conformed, I will post them here on the blog.
Listen to the podcast now: SCOTUS, Marriage Equality, and Pennsylvania 03/25 by thomascwaters | Blog Talk Radio.