U.S. Supreme Court sets stage for historic gay rights ruling

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear arguments on whether same-sex couples have a right to marry everywhere in America sets the stage for a potentially historic ruling on one of the country's most sweeping social issues.

The court announced Friday it will take up gay-rights cases that ask it to overturn bans in four states and declare for the entire nation that people can marry the partners of their choice, regardless of gender. The cases will be argued in April, and a decision is expected by late June.

The court chose not to decide this issue in 2013, even as it struck down part of a federal anti-gay marriage law that paved the way for a wave of lower court rulings across the country in favor of same-sex marriage rights.

But the momentum has shifted dramatically in the United States in recent months in favor of gay marriage.

America has seen a rapid and dramatic change in public opinion and laws regarding same-sex marriage. State legislatures have been approving it and, often when they haven't, courts have stepped in to allow it. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 36 of the 50 U.S. states, meaning 70 percent of Americans now live in states where it is legal.

Until now, the Supreme Court, the only tribunal that can reconcile inconsistent rulings among federal appellate courts, has avoided settling the issue for the entire U.S.

"The country is ready for the freedom to marry today," said James Esseks, leader of the American Civil Liberties Union's same-sex marriage efforts.

The appeals before the court come from gay and lesbian plaintiffs in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The federal appeals court that oversees those four states upheld their same-sex marriage bans in November, reversing pro-gay rights rulings of federal judges in all four states. It was the first, and so far only, appellate court to rule against same-sex marriage since the high court's 2013 decision.

One of the plaintiffs, James Obergefell, said he was crying "tears of joy and sadness" after the court accepted his appeal. In 2013, Obergefell flew to Maryland with his dying partner, John Arthur, so they could marry before Arthur's death. The couple sued to force Ohio to list Arthur as married on his death certificate, which would allow the men to be buried next to each other. Arthur died 15 months ago.

"I can't wait to walk up those steps and have the Supreme Court understand that we're just like everyone else," Obergefell said.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the Obama administration would urge the court "to make marriage equality a reality for all Americans."

On the other side, advocates for traditional marriage want the court to let the political process play out, rather than have judges order states to allow same-sex couples to marry.

"The people of every state should remain free to affirm marriage as the union of a man and a woman in their laws," said Austin R. Nimocks, senior counsel for the anti-gay marriage group Alliance Defending Freedom.

In October, five states asked the court to step in to preserve their bans on same-sex marriage. The justices declined without an explanation and subsequently refused to block lower court rulings from taking effect in other states while appeals were pending.

Now there are just 14 states in which same-sex couples cannot wed.

The court's decision to get involved is another marker of the rapid change that has redefined societal norms in the space of a generation.

The court will be weighing in on major gay rights issues for the fourth time in 27 years. In the first of those, in 1986, the court upheld Georgia's anti-sodomy law in a devastating defeat for gay rights advocates.

But the three subsequent rulings, all written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, were major victories for gay men and lesbians. In its most recent case in 2013, the court struck down part of a federal anti-gay marriage law in a decision that has paved the way for a wave of lower court rulings across the country in favor of same-sex marriage rights.

The court is extending the time it usually allots for argument from an hour to two-and-a-half hours. The justices will consider two related questions. The first is whether the Constitution requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The other is whether states must recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.