Gay marriage plaintiff’s lawyer: ‘The work goes on’

The lawyer behind the case that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide says the work for greater gay rights is not over yet.

Mary Bonauto represented plaintiff Jim Obergefell in Friday’s historic Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court ruling.

{mosads}She said in an interview that aired on Sunday that Americans must continue improving protections for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

“I do believe the work goes on,” Bonauto told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“People still get singled out for discrimination,” she said in the interview taped on Friday.

Bonauto is the civil rights project director of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.

She said that Friday’s ruling is a victory for civil rights protected by the Constitution.

“This case is entirely about the Constitution,” Bonauto said of Obergefell v. Hodges.

“In our nation, for over a century, marriage has been one of those basic, cherished rights,” she said.

“The state needs a very good reason to keep two people out of it,” Bonauto said.

Bonauto added that the traditional, opposite-sex definition of marriage is not a sound legal justification for banning same-sex marriages nationwide.

Friday’s landmark 5-4 decision ensures that states must recognize all same-sex marriages nationwide. It safeguards the practice under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protections Clause.