Over 31,000 children being raised by same-sex couples live in states that could soon have marriage equality, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined yesterday to hear any pending marriage equality cases.
The states whose cases the Supreme Court declined — Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin — gained marriage equality immediately, as lower court rulings stood in favor of equality. An additional five states in the same appeals court circuits — Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming — should get it soon after some additional legal judgments are issued to confirm the matter.
That means that the more than 31,000 children of same-sex couples in these states will soon know that their parents have the same right to marry as different-sex couples, based on an analysis by UCLA’s Williams Institute, which I’ve put into the chart below.
| Cohabiting Same-Sex Couples | Children Being Raised by Them | |
| Indiana | 11000 | 3200 |
| Oklahoma | 6100 | 2500 |
| Utah | 3900 | 1600 |
| Virginia | 14,200 | 4000 |
| Wisconsin | 9200 | 3200 |
| Colorado | 12500 | 4000 |
| Kansas | 4000 | 1800 |
| North Carolina | 18300 | 6600 |
| South Carolina | 7200 | 2750 |
| West Virginia | 3000 | 1030 |
| Wyoming | 700 | 350 |
| Total | 90100 | 31030 |
Across the entire U.S., 690,000 same-sex couples were raising an estimated 200,000 children in 2014, with as many as 30,000 of those children being raised by married parents. (Add in the children being raised by single LGBT parents or LGBT parents in different-sex relationships and the number is even higher.) Of course, not all couples, even parents, will choose to marry. That’s a personal decision. But knowing they could if they wanted to makes all the difference for them and their kids. Such knowledge can reinforce their children’s sense of self-worth and pride in themselves and their families.
This is reason to celebrate indeed. As the second map in this article at ThinkProgress reminds us, however, 10 of the states that should soon have marriage equality still do not have protections against sexual-orientation-based employment discrimination. A same-sex couple could marry only to have one or both spouses lose their jobs when the marriage becomes known.
The struggle thus isn’t over by a long shot — but yesterday was still a huge step forward. Congratulations to all of the couples in the impacted states who now plan to marry!
