Caution! Justices at Work-- Gay Marriages Under Construction

Nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are awaited to make a decision Friday morning over the legal debate on same-sex marriage.

Constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage have passed in 31 out of 50 states. However, nine states, including Washington, D.C., legalized gay marriage in which three of those states did so on Election Day, November 6.

According to Reuters, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, or D.O.M.A., which only allows for the recognition of marriages between a man and a woman. This act is the issue for the reviews of gay marriage cases because the law prevents same-sex married couples from receiving equal federal benefits as heterosexual married couples.

Even in the states that legalized gay-marriage, same-sex couples remain ineligible for the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples due to D.O.M.A.

Due to the equal protection provision of the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering five cases that dispute the law as a violation.

According to Reuters, the high court anticipated to at least seek one of the challenges, whereas the court usually "reviews lower-court decisions that invalidate a federal law."

States will have the free ability to legalize or reject gay marriage on "their own terms" if the court "invalidates the law," according to Reuters reports.  However, if the court ratifies one of the cases, then rulings should be expected by the end of June with arguments beginning in early 2013.

In my opinion, why should same-sex married couples not be able to receive the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples? I mean, in substance, a gay marriage still consists of two people who love each other in which both parties want to be together and happy.

I do not see the problem or the obstacle in which gay couples have to face in order to be together. I hope, among other supporters and modern thinkers for same-sex marriage, to see an equal and fair chance at marriage in all 50 states and access to federal benefits as well.