The SCOTUS Same-Sex Marriage Rulings: Closure

That’s not just what the Court delivered, it’s what the images speak to.

It’s an evolution that took place over time, in an organic way, and terminated in a new legal status ensconced in American law. To that effect, the two young women from American University embracing, far right, can be seen as the “third panel,” or a generational continuation of the two scenes in the poster capturing the relationship of activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyons, who broke the gay marriage barrier in California, but not till elder age.

You can see a similar coming together here in the symmetry between the facing American and Gay Rights flags. Sure, the Court is more closely aligned with Old Glory (the country having to grow into the landmark legislation), but the rainbow, aligned with “justice,” is also balanced between the larger and smaller stars and stripes.

And two lady liberties, indivisible. How literal is that?  With the gauzy pink roses and still another flag, by the way, the banner makes what happened yesterday seem not just traditional, but almost old fashioned.

(photo 1: Mark Wilson/Getty Images. caption: American University students Sharon Burk (L) and Mollie Wagoner (R) embrace after hearing that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional at the Supreme Court, June 26, 2013 in Washington, DC. The high court ruled to strike down DOMA and determined the California’s proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage was not properly before them, declining to overturn the lower court’s striking down of the law.photo 2: Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images. caption: Gay rights activists shout slogans outside the US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC on June 26, 2013. The US Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a controversial federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, in a major victory for supporters of same-sex marriage.The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) had denied married gay and lesbian couples in the United States the same rights and benefits that straight couples have long taken for granted. photo 3: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images. caption: A supporter of gay rights holds up a sign outside City Hall after in San Francisco on June 26, 2013. The US Supreme Court struck down The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) today, and declared that same-sex couples who are legally married deserve equal rights to the benefits under federal law that go to all other married couples. In another ruling, the Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California as the justices, in a prcedural ruling, turned away the defenders of Proposition 8.)