Gay-Marriage Ruling Safeguards Human Dignity

June 26 (Bloomberg) -- The word “dignity” can’t be found inthe Constitution, but in his majority opinion in U.S. v.Windsor, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy uses it no fewerthan nine times (actually 10, if we include “indignity”). Thefoundation of the court’s opinion, and its real importance, liein its insistence on human dignity as a constitutional value,one that stands at the heart of our longstanding commitment toequal protection of the laws.

In Windsor, the court struck down a central provision ofthe Defense of Marriage Act, enacted in 1996, which states that,under federal law, “the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal unionbetween one man and one woman as husband and wife.” When filingtax returns or seeking federal benefits, same-sex couples can’tcount as “married” under federal law, even if their state allowsthem to wed.