We Know When SCOTUS Will Hear This Case

Hey, here's an upside to the bad weather that's plagued your 2015 so far: Come April, the year is (probably) about to get a lot brighter. On Thursday, the Supreme Court announced when SCOTUS would hear the landmark same-sex marriage case that could make marriage equality a constitutional right in the United States: April 28, 2015. As of right now, in 38 states and the District of Columbia, same-sex couples can legally marry — but it's not enough, and some states remain sharply divided, even opposed, to the issue. Alabama, for example, has been fighting marriage equality tooth and nail for most of this year.

This doesn't mean that a decision will come in the spring, though. SCOTUS will begin hearing arguments for same-sex marriage on April 28, but a decision isn't expected until June, when the legislative session ends. The precise ruling, brought to the country's highest court by Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Tennessee, hinges on whether states can ban their same-sex citizens from legally marrying, and whether they can refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Wall Street, Eric Holder (and by extension the Department of Justice), and a number of big-name corporations have been vocal about their support for same-sex marriage becoming a constitutional right, and it's expected that the Supreme Court will ultimately rule in the favor of marriage equality.

Image: Giphy (1)