Supreme Court justice officiates gay wedding ‘by power of the Constitution’ amid court case
Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has married a same-sex couple – as the US awaits a ruling from her court in a case that could bring equality to all 50 states.
Justice Ginsburg – who heard arguments in a same-sex marriage ‘mega-case’ last month alongside the eight other justices – officiated what is at least her third same-sex wedding in Washington DC over the weekend.
Before her court has even ruled in the case, Justice Ginsburg officiated the wedding of Michael Kahn and Charles Mitchem, according to the New York Times.
The justice has gathered an unlikely online following and been nicknamed ‘Notorious R.B.G’ for her liberal opinions – becoming the first Supreme Court justice to officiate a same-sex wedding in 2013.
In case there was any doubt in the way the Justice would lean in the case, her words as she married the couple on Saturday appeared to suggest a pretty firm opinion.
She declared the men married “by the powers vested in me by the Constitution of the United States” – emphasising the word Constitution.
Her personal displays of support for equal marriage have led some anti-LGBT groups to call for her to be struck off from the case, but the argument has gathered no official traction.
The case is far from a done deal, however – with at least four of the remaining eight justices thought to be opposed or undecided on the issue.
The 82-year-old has repeatedly dismissed calls to retire despite her advanced age – claiming that President Obama would not be able to get a liberal replacement through the Republican-controlled Congress.
Natalie Portman is set to play her in an upcoming biopic of her life.