The Supreme Court said Friday that it will take on four cases challenging gay-marriage bans this term, and it will explicitly tackle the question of whether states are constitutionally obligated to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples (as well as whether states are required to recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere). Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia now perform same-sex marriages, with pro-marriage court rulings in limbo in a handful more. But a split at the appeals level — the sixth circuit decided to uphold bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee, where the SCOTUS petitioners live — is likely what prompted the nation’s highest court to weigh in. If it rules for the same-sex couples, the SCOTUS decision would mean marriage equality nationwide, just in time for Pride.
