Supremes to decide gay marriage?: From MSNBC [forgive the lack of block-quoting - just easier to read]:

Q. What indication has the U.S. Supreme Court given that it might decide that marriage between homosexuals is a right protected by the U.S. Constitution?


In their ruling last June in Lawrence v. Texas, a five-justice majority of the court struck down state anti-sodomy laws, deeming them a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

(Justice Sandra Day O'Connor concurred in the ruling but used different reasoning, saying anti-sodomy laws violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.)

The language of the decision implied that the liberty protected by the due process clause included the liberty for gay couples to get married.

Although the question of marriage itself was not squarely before the court, the majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, is significant in indicating the future direction of court's rulings.

"Our laws and tradition afford constitutional protection to personal decisions relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, child rearing, and education," Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion.

The Constitution, he added, demands respect "for the autonomy of the person in making these choices."

Then he added, "Persons in a homosexual relationship may seek autonomy for these purposes, just as heterosexual persons do."