virginia

The U.S. Supreme Court today allowed marriage case decisions from the Seventh Circuit, Fourth Circuit and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal to stand meaning that same-sex couples in five more states Indiana, Wisconsin, Virginia, Utah and Oklahoma will be able to marry – perhaps as soon as later today.

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the motion to intervene in Bostic v. Rainey that had been filed by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia on behalf of a class of all Virginia's same-sex couples. The class is simultaneously challenging the state's marriage ban in its own case, Harris v. Rainey.

Recent twists in several marriage equality lawsuits have given rise to a fair question: What happens now?

In a movement for equality, legal decisions and actions are like building blocks: Each one sets the stage for the next.Two developments this week illustrate this point — and they are big.