South Carolina’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional


Today a judge ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in South Carolina.

On Wednesday, a federal judge in South Carolina struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Today U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel has ruled on the right side of history. Gergel issued a ruling in favor of same-sex marriage on Nov. 12. He has granted the state’s motion for a temporary stay on issuing marriage licenses until Nov. 20.

In early October, Colleen Condon and Ann Bleckley, a same-sex couple, applied for a marriage license. Due to South Carolina’s same-sex marriage ban, their request for a marriage license was denied. Condon and Bleckley then filed a lawsuit which Gergel ruled in favor of today.

With South Carolina’s same-sex marriage ban being ruled unconstitutional, it poses the question ? what other states are next? Marriage equality is currently sweeping across the country. Although, just last week, the Sixth Circuit overturned lower court rulings that struck down bans on marriage equality in Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Tennessee. This recent decision has caused a circuit court split, which will almost guarantee that the Supreme Court will take up the issue of same-sex marriage. This means that same-sex marriage could possible be ruled constitutional all across the nation very soon.


Thank you, Judge Richard Gergel for ruling in favor of equality. It’s easy to applaud successes such as this one, but we must not forget the role each individual plays when it comes to supporting equality.

Read the court order here:

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Caleb Woods is a Communications and English major. He is a reader, a writer, and an activist for LGBT rights, women’s rights, and the rights of the American people. He has lived in Alabama for his entire life and has experienced first-hand discrimination and bigotry. He hopes to change hearts and minds across the world so that people may show more compassion and empathy for their fellow man and woman. Click here if you'd like to donate money to Caleb's coffee fund.