Area Politicians Weigh In on US Supreme Court Decision on Same-Sex Marriage
By Paul Kurtz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Following today's decision by the US Supreme Court overturning several states' bans on gay marriage, political figures across the country were staking out various positions on the issue.
Today, at a press conference during a budget signing, New Jersey governor Chris Christie (top photo), a likely presidential candidate, said he disagreed with the Supreme Court decision but, as an elected official who took an oath to uphold the Constitution, he would make sure the laws were followed.
US senator Bob Casey, in Philadelphia to press for more funding for Amtrak, called the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage "very good news."
"Obviously very good news," he said. "I think the country has advanced substantially in a rather short timeframe in terms of making sure that we support same-sex marriage."
During a news conference at 30th Street Station, Casey said the country has taken major steps to address issues of LGBT rights, first with individual states approving same-sex marriage, and now the Supreme Court legalizing it nationwide.
Casey went on to say that the country will have to address related issues, such as employment protection for gays.
"Someone could be the beneficiary of that decision -- be married in the morning -- and be fired in the afternoon because they may not have employment protection," Casey speculated. "So we have to advance, I think, even beyond today's decision on issues that are related but may not yet be resolved."
Jim Kenney -- the former Philadelphia city councilman, current Democratic frontrunner in the race for mayor, and a longtime backer of LGBT equality -- said today that the ruling in support of same-sex marriage is but one step on the road to true equality for LGBT Americans.
