America's Prolonged Battle for Gay Rights: Who Will Create Social Change?

Abstract

When a man or a woman swears that they will take their partner in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, and till death do they part, does it really matter who is looking back at them? Common law delineates that marriage is between one man and one woman; and until the last decade, this was the prevailing definition of marriage. Yet as the gay rights movement gained support, the conventional definition of marriage has transformed. But the gay rights movement is not just about securing the right to marry; it is an attempt to produce social change through the United States court system. As the gay rights movement attempts to create social change through the two gay marriage cases, will the justices declare a historic ruling on gay marriage? Yet, regardless of their decision in June 2013, the Supreme Court's decision will not affect the momentum of the gay rights movement. Through analyzing the history of the gay rights movement, the legal arguments at stake, and reviewing past influential state and Supreme Court cases, it is evident that the prevailing gay rights movement will achieve its goals regardless of winning or losing litigation at the Supreme Court.