story by Cecilia Butler, photos courtesy of MCT Campus

On March 26th and 28th two cases involving same sex marriage were brought before the Supreme Court; they have yet to make their final decisions. On these dates, thousands of Americans swarmed around the White House voicing their opinions. Even more vocalized their point of view towards the cases via social media.

United States vs. Windsor (March 27, 2013)

According to NPR, 83 year old Edie Windsor lost her wife, resulting her owing the government around 350 thousand dollars. According to CBS, this goes back to the 1996 Defensive Same Sex Marriage Act, which denies same sex marriage federal benefits. If Windsor were married to a man, she would not have to pay the heavy fine.

The larger question the Supreme Court has to ask is whether or not the Same Sex Marriage Act violates the 5th Amendment, which guarantees the people equal of the law from the federal government.

According to NPR, the lower federal courts have ruled in favor of Windsor.

Hollingsworth vs. Perry (March 26, 2013)

According to NPR, in May of 2008 gay marriage was legalized in California, then on November of the same year it was banned. In 2009 two Californian gay couples were denied their marriage licenses. They are suing the state of California.

This case deals with Proposition 8, which bans same sex marriage in California. The case has to decide whether or not Proposition 8 violates the 14th amendment, which prevents states from denying people equal protection under the law.

According to NPR, the Supreme Court’s ruling could either affect the state of California or the entire American nation. In the broadest sense, this means they will determine whether or not same sex marriages are legal. The lower courts have ruled against Proposition 8.

Media Influence

According to NBC, 40% of Americas thought same sex marriage should be valid in 2007. Skip six years later and 53% of Americas think gay marriage should be valid. NBC feels the media is causing a “tectonic shift in public opinion surrounding gay marriage.”

Television shows such as Glee, Modern Family, and Grays Anatomy display gay characters, making same sex relationships appear to be the new norm. According to the Huffington post, Mitt Romney, thought to be a more conservative politician, said that his favorite show was modern family. Ten years ago, the politician would most likely never given the show a positive reaction because of the controversial same sex relationship.

The view research center reports that “the growth and support is one of the largest changes in public opinion on any policy issue in this time period.” Not only have television shows played a role in impacting America’s stance on gay marriage, but so has social media.

A trending image on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram was a red equal sign, shared by the Human Rights Campaign. This stands for the support towards same sex marriage. According to Know Your Meme, within a few hours numbers celebrities shared the picture as well as at least 13 Congress members.

According to Vice Magazine the red equal sign trend is “just another form of passive activism that isn’t advancing the cause.”

Others disagree with Vice’s statement, including STA junior Katie Tampke. “I knew that even though I changed my profile picture to the equality sign it isn’t going to change the Supreme Court’s decision,” Tampke said. “It was more just showing my friends that are gay and lesbian that I wanted them to have equal rights, that I support them.”

According to Know your Meme, on March 29 a Facebook data scientist reported 2.7 million users changed their profile pictures to the equality sign.