Washington -
Advocates and opponents of gay marriage hailed Saturday a decision by the US Supreme Court to take up the sensitive issue, saying a ruling by the justices could help settle one of the thorniest social disputes in modern America.
On Friday, the high court agreed to hear challenges to a federal law denying benefits to same-sex couples and California's ban on such unions.
The court will likely hear arguments in the cases in March 2013, with rulings to come in June.
Same-sex marriage is currently legal in nine states and the federal capital Washington but barred in 30 other states.
Campaigners on both sides of the issue expressed satisfaction with the decision Ä although they obviously backed differing views as to what constitutes marriage and family.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization, said it was “a milestone day for equal justice under the law” and for millions of same-sex couples who want to make a lifelong commitment through marriage.
“As the court has ruled 14 times in the past, marriage is a fundamental right and I believe they will side with liberty, freedom and equality, moving us toward a more perfect union as they have done in the past,” he said.
The conservative Family Research Council was also pleased, with president Tony Perkins saying in a statement: “Virtually nothing is more important to the future of our country than marriage and the family.”
“The argument that the authors of our Constitution created or even implied a 'right' to redefine 'marriage' lies outside our constitutional law,” Perkins added.
As analysts predicted, the court took up one challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman and denies federal benefits to married same-sex couples.
Benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples but denied to gays include inheritance rights, tax breaks, filing of joint income tax returns, and health insurance coverage.
President Barack Obama's government does not support this view of marriage and would like the law to be overturned, but conservative campaigners are urging the Supreme Court to rule that the act is constitutional.
The specific case to be heard involves Edith Windsor, a lesbian legally married in Canada who has been told to pay tax on inheriting the estate of her deceased partner.
“While Thea is no longer alive, I know how proud she would have been to see this day. The truth is, I never expected any less from my country,” Windsor said in a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The Supreme Court will rule whether DOMA violates the guarantee of equal protection under the law as guaranteed by the fifth amendment of the US constitution.
It will also decide if the Obama administration's position that DOMA is unconstitutional deprives the Supreme Court of jurisdiction, and whether a complaint by some US lawmakers has legal standing.
Justice Elena Kagan, as Obama's former solicitor general has recused herself on some of the cases in which she had played a role, but this is one on which she can participate.
Kagan's participation avoids the potential for a 4-4 split on the nine-member bench.
The other case taken up was brought by supporters of “Prop 8,” a referendum that passed in California in 2008 that defined marriage as being between a “man and a woman” Ä but which was overturned by a court of appeals.
If the Supreme Court throws out their appeal, California Ä the country's most populous state Ä will in effect become the 10th state to permit gay marriage.
But if it upholds it, the legality of the marriages of people like Kristin Perry and Sandy Stier, a Berkeley couple challenging “Prop 8,” will be called into question.
Still, they want to risk it in the hope of getting a final settlement of the dispute.
“What we've always wanted was the very biggest, broadest outcome possible,” Perry said. “That can only happen if the Supreme Court listens to the case.”
The court will decide whether the 14th amendment of the US constitution, which requires states to provide equal protection under the law to all people, prohibits California from banning gay marriage.
The Supreme Court will also decide whether the petitioners have legal standing in the case.
Justices did not say what they planned to do with eight other gay marriage petitions they debated behind closed doors on Friday.
It is likely that these, along with a last-minute case on the gay marriage ban in Nevada, will not be heard. But the Supreme Court could also rule that whatever decision it reaches in June should prevail over all the pending cases - not just the ones heard.
As a country, the United States appears to be slowly moving towards tolerating same-sex unions.
An opinion poll by USA Today/Gallup released this week ahead of the court's decision showed that 53 percent of Americans believe same-sex marriage should be legal, up from 40 percent just three years ago. - Sapa-AFP