WKU Constitutional law scholar Dr. Patty Minter says she wasn't surprised by Friday's ruling, she's just surprised it happened so fast. "The court and nation as a whole have been moving in this direction for some time," she said, "but the speed of it all is what fascinates me."
She told WKU Public Radio that very seldom do you see the central mass shift and a change happen so quickly, but "in the past few years there's been a sea change in the way the American people think about equal rights as they apply to same sex couples and LGBT people as a whole."
She said she expected the ruling to be a split decision since this will be the last time dissenting Justices will get to have their say on the matter and have their opinions published. And she said Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority decision, cemented his place in history.
The ruling means that not only does Kentucky have to allow same sex marriages, the state now also has to recognize as legal same-sex marriages performed in other states.
The decision does not compel religious institutions to perform same-sex marriages if they're morally opposed to it, but Minter says, "This says all people are created equal and now LGBT Americans are included under that umbrella."
