Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on Monday urged the Supreme Court to force states to recognize same-sex marriages, calling it the next step in a decades-long fight for equality.
“We cannot fail now. Love is on the line. Citizenship is on the line,” Booker said from the Senate floor. “We cannot deny the worth of one American without denying the worth dignity and strength of our nation as a whole.”
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges on April 28. The case focuses on whether a state must recognize a same-sex marriage license from another state under the Fourteenth Amendment.
{mosads}Booker said the case comes down to “will we have equality under the law or will we tolerate a government that denies some citizens fundamental rights.”
Brown compared an Ohio law banning same-sex marriages to previous bans on interracial marriages, adding that the Supreme Court should stand “on the right side of the history.”
Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the case, listened to the speeches from the Senate galleries.
A federal judge ruled that Obergefell’s marriage to John Arthur’s should be recognized in Ohio, a state that otherwise does not recognize same-sex marriages.
The ruling allowed Arthur, who later passed away, to be listed as “married” on his death certificate. Ohio, however, successfully appealed the ruling, meaning Arthur would be listed as “single.”