USC Professor Expects Same-Sex Marriages in S.C. Soon

COLUMBIA, S.C.(WOLO) — “I think we’re talking weeks, maybe a month or two, before gay marriage before gay marriage becomes where you can go down to the Justice of the Peace and get married,” says Donald Songer, Political Science Professor at the University of South Carolina A Midlands couple’s lawsuit could soon be even more important to the future of gay marriage in South Carolina. Monday, the United States Supreme Court decided not to hear appeals regarding same-sex marriages in five states. The states affected include: Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Indiana and Wisconsin. The 4th, 7th and 8th Circuit Court of Appeals are affected ABC Columbia first met Tracie Goodwin and Katherine Bradacs in November 2013. The couple is suing Governor Nikki Haley and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson in order to have their union recognized. After Monday’s decision by the United States Supreme Court, that could now happen. “There’s no national law made with the decision. The result is that the decision of the three circuits now stands,” says Songer In July, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage. Among the states in the 4th circuit, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland and South Carolina. Songer says, he expects, gay marriages to start in South Carolina soon. “The timing will depend on whether the governor and the Attorney General decide to continue to fight,” says Songer Attorney General Wilson released the following statement,”Our case (Bradacs v. Wilson) has not yet been decided. Until the courts rule, South Carolina will seek to uphold our state constitution.”