Photo by Brittany Guerin | The Signal
Marriage licenses are now being signed with tears and smiles in court houses throughout the country due to a momentous decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26.
The judicial branch eradicated the ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions by a 5 to 4 majority vote, according to CNN. The landmark decision allows same-sex couples to wed, have the union be recognized by all states and territories and entitles them to the same benefits heterosexual spouses enjoy, including being recognized as married on official documents.
Upon hearing the news, Georgia State University’s Student Center Director Boyd Beckwith was one of the first same-sex couples to marry following the Supreme Court ruling.
He and his partner Jerry Hill decided to go to the Fulton County Courthouse during lunch and get married. Beckwith admits his marriage was “spur of the moment.” His partner texted him “Will you marry me?” with a diamond ring Emoji.
“Interestingly, we were not the first couple to have a marriage in Fulton County. There was a female couple that actually were able to get their marriage license and have a ceremony done earlier that day,” he said. “It was only because I saw the article about that service being performed that I thought: ‘Oh, we can.’ It was impressive that Fulton County was already set up to allow same-sex couples to marry.”
However, Beckwith and his spouse had been following the case.
“We knew there [was] going to be a ruling at some point, and we kind of thought it might be that Friday, but we weren’t sure,” Beckwith said.
The two questions before the court were whether states could ban same-sex marriages, and whether or not they would be recognized out of state. The case came to the Supreme Court after several local courts overturned the same-sex marriage ban, according to CNN.
The Ruling and Georgia’s Response
Before the ruling, 37 states allowed same-sex couples to marry, but those unions were not recognized outside of those states.
Georgia, prior to the ruling, was among the states still with same-sex marriage bans.
Governor Nathan Deal said the state of Georgia will follow the laws of the United States, according to the press release from Deal’s Office.
“While I believe that this issue should be decided by the states and by legislatures, not the federal judiciary, I also believe in the rule of law,” Deal said in the press release.
Pew Research findings state nearly 72 percent of Americans, which includes half in opposition of gay marriage, believed approval of same-sex marriage was “inevitable.”
Beckwith said he and his partner had a ceremony before legalizing their marriage.
“We’ve been together for 23 years; we already had an actual ceremony [for] our tenth anniversary in Houston but clearly in Texas it was not legal there, but we celebrated with our friends and family,” he said.
He elaborated that this ceremony [June 26] was for the legal purposes of being married.
They filled out the paperwork and participated in a mass ceremony at Fulton County Courthouse on June 26.
“It’s funny–there were maybe six couples waiting, but seven judges that wanted to perform ceremonies because they knew how historic it would be. By the time we left there were ten couples waiting,” he said.
Beckwith also considers the ruling to advantageous for future couples, because it allows for same-sex couples to have access to more benefits.
“When I moved here to take this job, my partner had to give up his job. And because we weren’t a married couple, he had no benefits. Had we been married when I was recruited to come work here, he would have automatically able to be on my insurance plan,” he said. “I could’ve put our dogs on my plan, but not my partner of 23 years. It makes it easier for same-sex couples to move around the country and to have more job stability.”
Beckwith said he enjoyed his attention and received no backlash for his choices.
“It’s all been very positive. I was very fortunate to come back to the office and see that everyone had decorated [the office]…I’m still getting emails from colleagues,” he said.
He also doesn’t feel being married has changed his relationship with his spouse, except for having “the recognition that we’re equal to all the other couples.”
Beckwith is also pensive about the next 2016 presidential election.
“For so long, the biggest issues have been social, not actually about the economy [and] foreign policy. Hopefully, this will allow us to get past these social issues and get more towards gun control, those sorts of things,” he said.
He also said he is “glad to see this day” and never thought this day would come in his lifetime.
“It’s even more exciting for the younger generation to see that there isn’t as much of a stigma as there used to be about being gay, lesbian, or bisexual,” he said.
He also said he thinks this is the tip of the iceberg for equal rights.
“I think there’s still so much work to do…I can still be fired for being gay in 29 states. I can be discriminated in housing, because I’m gay in 29 states,” he said.
Beckwith said he is secure in his choices.
“I don’t want to force any church to recognize my relationship. I can care less what the various religions think about my relationship,” he said. “What I want is the federal benefits. What I want is the recognition that I am equal to with other human beings.”
OUTlaw former president speaks out about the ruling
Pierce Hand, former president of Georgia State’s OUTlaw, which is an organization to support LGBT law students, said he was overjoyed with the ruling and felt a sense of justice.
“While some of our members have expressed uncertainty regarding whether they want to marry someone else one day, all of us agree that it is certainly necessary and in the interest of justice and equality to have the right to marry,” he said.
Hand said the equality of same-sex marriage is dignifying.
“Having your bond with someone of the same-sex seen in the eyes of your heterosexual counterparts as equal to their own is dignifying and ends a lot of harm to children in same-sex parent households,” he said. “Being denied the right to marry means denial of spousal health insurance, certain hospital visitation and medical decision-making rights, child custody rights in states, and more.”
Hand also said OUTlaw is looking forward to celebrating this occasion.
“We are currently in the planning stages for the upcoming year, but OUTlaw is looking forward to celebrating this victory for the LGBT community during the school year in some way,” he said.
The Juris Doctoral candidate said none of his same-sex group members have exercised their newfound rights in Georgia yet, although some are already married.
“As for members that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, some of these members are already married in other states like Massachusetts and South Carolina. These members are happy to finally have their marriages recognized by the State of Georgia,” he said.
Hand states that he feels Georgia is moving in the right direction. He also said he intends to marry.
“This is the first step in the right direction toward addressing issues the gravely affect LGBT people in Georgia, namely employment discrimination against LGBT people and equal treatment of people who identify as transgender,” he said. “I currently plan to get married in Georgia in the future after law school, but I cannot speak for other members.”
Miranda Hawkins helped with this story.
VOX
Q: What are your thoughts on the passing of same-sex legislation?
Aliscia Ray, Journalism major
“I don’t have any particular strong feelings about it. I’m happy people are getting equal rights they should have had a long time ago.”
Noah Trepper, incoming freshman
“I’m in support. People should have the freedom to make that choice if they want to.”
