While President Barack Obama took to Twitter this morning to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that legalizes same-sex marriages in all 50 states, Gov. Bobby Jindal—now in day two of his long-shot bid to fill Obama’s chair when he leaves office—issued a statement saying he’ll continue to fight against gay marriage.
“Today is a big step in our march toward equality,” says the president in his Tweet. “Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else. #LoveWins”
Jindal, on the other hand, issued a statement saying: “The Supreme Court decision today conveniently and not surprisingly follows public opinion polls, and tramples on states’ rights that were once protected by the 10th Amendment of the Constitution. Marriage between a man and a woman was established by God, and no earthly court can alter that.”
The Supreme Court’s decision affirming the right to gay marriage came on a 5-4 vote. In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy writes that “no union is more profound than marriage.” Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
As The Associated Press reports, the decision in United States vs. Windsor does not address the validity of state marriage bans. But courts across the country, with few exceptions, have said logic would compel them to invalidate state laws that prohibited gay and lesbian couples from marrying. The number of states allowing same-sex marriage has grown rapidly. As recently as October, just over one-third of the states permitted same-sex marriage.
According to UCLA’s Williams Institute, there are an estimated 390,000 married same-sex couples in the United States.
In his statement, Jindal says the ruling “will pave the way for an all out assault against the religious freedom rights of Christians who disagree with this decision,” adding that “I will never stop fighting for religious liberty, and I hope our leaders in D.C. join me.”
