Supreme Court ruling makes history

I had just woken up last Friday morning, a little grumpy to be exact. My alarm clock failed yet again for 5 a.m. But my body didn’t at 5:35.

So there I was, grumpy with a glass of juice in my hands, sitting down at my computer for my daily updates and e-mails, when the TV sounded with a breaking news alert. It had been a busy week for the U.S. Supreme Court making morning landmark decisions, keeping TV news networks hopping to be sure.

My ears perked up when I heard the reporter talking about the Supreme Court and same sex marriage. I could hear cheers in the background, lots of cheers. The reporter went on to say the court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, making it legal in all 50 states.

Oh, my God! Really?

As I sat there with a glass of juice and unkempt hair watching history in the making, my morning grumpy feelings went out the door. I was absolutely thrilled about it. One of the biggest civil rights issues since the 1960s has been resolved with this historic ruling. One I had a small part in. This ruling is an important part of history and important to the greater cause of equal rights for the LGBT peoples of our nation.

I never took part in marches or rallies. I just wrote my opinions here in support of gay rights and marriage in this column and social media for the last five years. I also voiced my views on the radio, too.

As I said before, just a small part, and I liked it that way. My reasons were simple as well. I have friends and family I love and respect who are gay or lesbian. For me it was personal. So I led by example: a straight, retired soldier fighting for gay rights and same-sex marriage.

My Facebook page lit up Friday like a rainbow-colored Christmas tree. Most posts were in support of the Supreme Court’s 5-to-4 ruling. I chimed in with a link to the NBC news story on it and saying; "Excellent news! The struggle for Equality is won!"

There were some, for various reasons, who were more than disappointed at the court's involvement and ruling. I understand some of the reasons, but I do not agree with them.

The world did not end on June 26, 2015, just like it didn’t end when Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down on June 26, 2014. But just to be sure, I waited until the morning of June 27 to write about it, historic in its own right as the day the Stonewall riots began in 1969.

This morning the sun rose in the east. There was a slight breeze in the air as birds sang in the trees. This beautiful life continued. The nation started another day, the world turned on its axis as it has for time without measure. A wrong was righted for a group of misunderstood people that took years to bring to fruition, and nothing was destroyed as some feared.

That is what it boiled down to: Fear, fueled by intolerance, ignorance and twisted religious propaganda for years. Thinking like this did more than enough damage along the way. Yet Americans began to accept, year by year, that those who are LGBT are people – fellow Americans who should have the same rights everyone else has.

Those in denial were losing ground with each passing year. And now, with this victory, they haven’t got a leg to stand on.

That doesn’t mean they are going to stop trying. I took a look at what our esteemed candidates for the highest office in the land had to say. They are split along party lines in support (Democrats) and livid opposition, even anger (guess who?) from most of the Republicans.

Some argued that it should never have been left up to the Supreme Court to decide on this at all. They fail to realize it is their job to do just that, and that it has been done before in critical civil rights cases in the past that are now the law of the land.

Had it been left up to individual states, as some now contend, we would never have equality for those of color, religion, creed and gender. We would have remained a segregated, limited racial and gender rights country without those landmark court decisions.

Like the landmark 1967 civil rights case of Loving vs. Virginia, which went all the way to the Supreme Court before interracial marriage was legalized, the court’s decision Friday is now the law of the land.

I get the funny feeling that more than a few of the religiously conservative-minded types are going to obsess, rant and rave on this, just like they do about anything related to President Barack Obama, or the Affordable Care Act.

That means a lot more material for me to write about, possibly for years to come. Pity, because I feel they should just accept the ruling of the highest court in the nation. Marriage – and the legal benefits it confers on participants – is now an equal right for all, no matter the gender, race, religion and sexual orientation, in all 50 states.

As Americans we are now all free to choose our companions in life. This decision is long overdue. But I, for one, am very glad that the Supreme Court recognized that all citizens in the U.S. are equal under the rule of law.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.