So unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you’ve heard about the United States Supreme Court overturning DOMA, or the defense of marriage act. For those who don’t know, DOMA was a law that defined a marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman. It denied same sex couples the legal rights that come with marriage, such as being able to file a single tax return, social security benefits, the ability to add a spouse to insurance policies, and end of life rights. What this means for same sex couples is the right to all of these benefits since all legal same sex marriages are now recognized by federal law.

This silver lining does have a cloud though. By the new legal standard, same sex marriages that are recognized as legal get the same benefits as opposite sex marriages. Unfortunately, many states do not recognize or outright ban same sex unions. This decision would not give the federal benefits previously denied to same sex couples by DOMA if they live in states that do not recognize the legality of same sex marriage.

This issue should be the next battle in the civil rights of the LGBT community. With the Supreme Court recognizing the legal rights of same sex marriages, there is now a legal president for the rest of the United States to follow suit and make this country one where any two people can get married without opposition from the law.

Go to google and put LGBT in the search bar. It's pretty cool what they did to honor the community.

Go to google and put LGBT in the search bar. It’s pretty cool what they did to honor the community.