The Supreme Court of the United States' opinion is not something to be taken lightly in any case, but less so when talking about the creation of a new modality of civil rights. For now, in regards of equal marriage, the Supreme Court of the United States' opinion has been vague, as the institution has yet to make a strong stance in pro or against gay marriage, which is an institution that as of 2011 the majority of American citizens approve of.
The latest Supreme Court of the United States' opinion regarding the matter of same-sex unions was released this Monday, the New York Times reports, as the institution denied legal review in all states pending on same-sex marriage cases. In other words, and according to the Supreme Court of the United States' opinion, this means that gay marriages can proceed to be taking place in the states of Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
While it is only one of the decisions regarding the matter that has reached the Supreme Court in the past few years, the move was seen with surprise by various sectors of the population, as it's seen as the Supreme Court taking a stance on the subject: if the new decision is to set terms to how things will be going legally from now on, it could mean that the most important court in the country will not be persecuting gay marriage in the future, allowing more and more states to approve it.
While equal marriage supporters have been pushing for a federal law that approves civil unions all over the country, for a while it has seemed that the steps towards making same-sex marriage a reality will take longer. However, the new move seems to tell that the course of action in the Supreme Court of the United States' opinion will be similar to how interracial marriage was approved in the 60s: the court waited until the majority of states allowed it, 34 in total - even though by then a majority of Americans were against it.