When we heard experts say that gay marriage was most likely going to be permitted in South Carolina, we were as surprised as anyone. We always thought that our state would be one of the last to strike down provisions against it.
But with the Supreme Court's approval of a federal appeals court ruling to annul a Virginia same-sex marriage ban, it seems likely that South Carolina’s ban will also be stricken down.
These are momentous changes. This is the closest the state has come to allowing gay couples equal marriage rights. But same-sex marriage isn't legal yet.
SC Attorney General Alan Wilson and Gov. Nikki Haley have pledged to defend the constitutionally-based same-sex marriage ban by resuming a lawsuit against a South Carolina gay couple that married in the District of Columbia.
By pursuing the lawsuit after the Supreme Court’s decision, they are continuing a fight that only has one outcome: judging South Carolina’s ban unconstitutional.
Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at the University of Richmond, was quoted in The State newspaper as saying that the judge in the South Carolina case is bound by the Virginia’s court ruling. Nevertheless, he predicts Haley and Wilson will be able to prolong the case as long as two months.
This directly affects a large chunk of USC’s student body. LGBT students and activists at USC have been forced to accept the fact that we live in a state that has anti-gay provisions written directly into its constitution.
The chance that a gay student would want to graduate and live in a state that effectively treats him or her as a second-class citizen is almost laughable.
While we have a vibrant LGBT community, gay students on campus cannot feel completely welcome in a state willing to waste an unknown amount of time, energy and cash to keep them from gaining equal rights. This is an unpardonable act of wasting taxpayer money.
And, until our attorney general and governor recognize that fact, LGBT students at USC cannot feel at home.