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Hours after a split Supreme Court ruling Friday determined that the Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to same-sex marriage across the country, some in Blair County celebrated, while others were shaking their heads.
Among the former was John McConnell, a 28-year-old gay man who lives in Hollidaysburg. McConnell said he heard about the ruling while browsing social media, and quickly took to a news website to read about the decision.
“I was incredibly thrilled,” he said of his initial reaction. “This is pretty much the biggest civil rights issue of my time.”
McConnell said he had been following news on the issue closely, and he was pretty certain the outcome would turn out the way it did.
McConnell is engaged to marry his partner, Chris Holland. The two made the decision a few months before same-sex marriage was legally recognized in Pennsylvania last May, he said.
Still, he remembered a time before the Pennsylvania legalization and the way the same-sex bans hindered his day-to-day life.
“It’s really hard to plan your life based on what a court decision is going to be,” he said. “When it comes right down to it, it’s people’s lives. It’s not this ideological question; it’s people’s lives.”
The Supreme Court’s Friday ruling – a 5-4 decision – ended same-sex marriage bans in 14 states.
According to The Associated Press, the ruling will not take effect immediately because the court gives the losing side roughly three weeks to ask for reconsideration.
But county clerks in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas began issuing licenses to same-sex couples within hours of the decision, the AP reported.
In the hours after the decision, many took to social media to voice their praise, including President Barack Obama, who took to Twitter to say, “Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else.”
Locally, however, some church leaders had a different opinion.
Gary Dull, pastor at the Faith Baptist Church of Altoona, issued a two-page news release to express his opinion that the ruling was unconstitutional.
“The decision of the Supreme Court is unbiblical because the Bible defines marriage as being between one man and one woman only,” Dull’s release said, continuing to provide that this ruling is an example of “the reduction of the moral fiber of America.”
Similarly, Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese spokesman Tony DeGol said the diocese is disappointed with the decision.
“Basically, what I can tell you is that today’s ruling by the Supreme Court does not change the church’s opinion of marriage as a union between one man and one woman,” DeGol said. “What the Supreme Court did … was try to redefine marriage. It was a very poor decision.”
DeGol said anyone is welcome in the church, but same-sex marriage will not be recognized by the religion. Though it is OK to have gay thoughts, it is not OK to act on them, he said.
“That has been the position of the church for years,” he said. “Our bishop has said that publicly.”
Dull, in his release, also commented on same-sex marriage’s place in religion, saying that pastors should be prepared for efforts to force a same-sex marriage within the church.
But McConnell said those worries are unwarranted. He said it is clear that a couple does not need to be married in a church or by a pastor or priest.
“I don’t see why same-sex couples would want to be married in a place where they’re not accepted,” he said.
Regardless of the backlash, McConnell said he believes the right decision was made. He referred to his parents and grandparents who were able to marry the people they loved, and, now, he and many others will be able to do the same, he said.
“It’s what you do. You fall in love and you get married,” he said. “There is really no good reason to say gay people can’t get married, unless you just don’t like them.”
Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.