U.S. President Barack Obama speaks on the Supreme Court's decision backing marriage equality

This morning (June 26) U.S. President Barack Obama delivered the statement below in response to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in favour of gay marriage.

“Sometimes there are days like this, when that slow steady effort is rewarded with justice that arrives like a thunderbolt,” he said. “This morning, the Supreme Court recognized that the Constitution guarantees marriage equality. In doing so, they have reaffirmed that all Americans are entitled to the equal protection of the law. That all people should be treated equal regardless of who they are or who they love. This decision will end the patchwork system we currently have. It will end the uncertainty hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples face from not knowing whether their marriage, legitimate in the eyes of one state, will remain if they decide to move or even visit another. This ruling will strengthen all of our communities by offering, to all loving same-sex couples, the dignity of marriage across this great land.

“In my second inaugural address, I said that, ‘If we are truly created equal, then surely the love that we commit to one another must be equal as well’. It is gratifying to see that principle enshrined into law by this decision.

“This ruling is a victory for Jim Obergefell and the other plaintiffs in the case. It is a victory for gay and lesbian couples that fought so long for their basic civil rights. It is a victory for their children, whose families will not be recognized as equal to any other. It is a victory for the allies and friends and supporters who spent years, even decades, working and praying for change to come. And this ruling is a victory for America. This decision affirms what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts. When all Americans are treated as equal, we are all more free.

“My administration is guided by that idea. It is why we stopped defending the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and why we were pleased when the court finally struck down the central provision of that discriminatory law. It is why we ended ‘don’t ask don’t tell’. From extending full marital benefits to federal employees and their spouses to expanding hospital visitation rights for LGBT patients and their loved ones, we have made real progress in advancing equality for LGBT Americans in ways that were unimaginable not too long ago.”

“I know change for many of our LGBT brothers and sisters must have seemed so slow for so long. But compared to so many other issues, America’s shift has been so quick.

I know that Americans of good will continue to hold a wide range of views on this issue. Opposition, in some cases, has been based on sincere and deeply held beliefs. All of us who welcome today’s news should be mindful of that fact, recognize different viewpoints, revere our deep commitment to religious freedom. But today should also give us hope that on the many issues with which we grapple, often painfully, real change is possible.

“Shifts in hearts and minds is [sic] possible. And those who have come so far on their to journey to equality have a responsibility to reach back and help others join them. Because for all our differences, we are one people, stronger together than we could ever be alone. That’s always been our story. We are big and vast and diverse, a nation of people with different backgrounds and beliefs, different experiences and stories, but bound by our shared ideal that no matter who you are or what you look like, how you started off or how and how you love, America is a place where you can write your own destiny.

“We are a people that believe that every single child is entitled to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There is so much more work to be done to extend the full promise of America to every America. But today we can say, in no uncertain terms, that our union is a little more perfect. That’s the consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court. But, more importantly, it is a consequence of the countless small acts of courage of millions of people across decades who stood up, who came out, who talked to parents, parents who loved their children no matter what – folks who were willing to endure bullying and taught. What an extraordinary achievement, what a vindication of the belief that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. What a reminder of what Bobby Kennedy once said about how small actions can be like pebbles being thrown into a still lake, and ripples of hope cascade outwards and change the world. Those countless, often anonymous heroes, they deserve our thanks. They should be very proud. America should be very proud.

“Thank you.”