Last month, the Supreme Court decided not to review a case on same-sex marriage. This decision upheld the ruling of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals that had lifted Indiana’s ban on gay marriage.

Back in March, three federal lawsuits were filed, Baskin v. Bogan, Lee v. Pence and Midori Fujii v. State of Indiana, all over the issue of same-sex marriage. In June, District Judge Richard L. Young ruled in favor of the same-sex couples, striking down Indiana’s ban on gay marriage. In September, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his decision. The Supreme Court declined to review the case in October, effectively upholding the rulings of the lower courts.

This decision has affected many CHS students, senior Corbin Flatford among them. Her parents are gay, and the ruling has recognized their marriage from another state. Flatford said the decision surprised her.

“I was a little bit shocked because my mom came out two years ago, but then I was like, ‘Hey, you love who you want to love,’ and then she got married and now she’s having a baby in January, so I’m pretty happy,” Flatford said.

Flatford said not everyone will support the ruling, but she is in favor of it.

“I think that allowing people to marry who they want to marry is definitely going to change lives, and it allows families to just be a family by law,” she said.

Jeremy Horner, Gay-Straight Alliance sponsor and chemistry teacher, said his emotions were a combination of surprised and excited.

“It caught me off guard because I wasn’t expecting it. I mean, I just checked online and it was there,” he said.

However, some students, like senior Claire Mitchel, are less supportive of the decision.

“I’m not really for it,” Mitchel said. “I’ve kind of got  mixed feelings about it. For my beliefs, we (people of my faith) are against it because it’s not procreative, so you can’t really create a child with two men or two women. And, it’s kind of saying that if two men get married the mom’s not important and vice versa.”

Horner said the ruling will impact students in two main ways. He said it will not only give legal recognition but also change the perception of same-sex marriage.

Flatford said the decision will bring better awareness and help people to accept gay marriage. Mitchel, though, said it will continue to be a sensitive issue.

“I know that a lot of people react differently so I feel like you just got to be careful if you bring up the topic with friends, and don’t expect them to believe the same things that you believe in,” she said.

Horner also said the issue has not been resolved because many people do not understand that the Supreme Court hasn’t actually made a decision.

“Certainly that has meaning, in a sense they made a decision by not making a decision, so it’s sort of weird, and I think there’s a lot of confusion about that, so I don’t think this issue’s necessarily gone away and I think that we will see it again,” Horner said.