“The history of marriage is one of both continuity and change,” stated the opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court Friday in support of gay marriage.

Isn’t that the truth? Not just about marriage, but about every social construct the human race has ever borne.

Conventional and legal views of marriage in Western society once held that wives were property – slaves, in essence, which at the time wasn’t a controversial concept at all. By the 21st century, through the tireless struggle of countless women and men, the legacy of that particular view of marriage was slowly changing, key word being “slowly.” It wasn’t until 1975 that a wife was given the right to legally have credit in her name.

Today, women still face wage disparity and reproductive indignity. And, in the course of a similar, bloodier battle for freedom and justice, African Americans still face inordinate societal prejudice, violence and disenfranchisement because of the legacy of their skin color, another social construct.

But human rights proponents across the country could rejoice Friday as, after centuries of hateful degradation and exclusion, the right to marry was finally extended to all Americans – including those that are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender – as equal under the law.

With tears in my eyes, I thought of my loved ones, family members, friends, mentors and personal heroes, who happen to be gay. I thought of what this verdict must mean to them, whether they want to get married or not: equal under the law.

I thought of the countless millions that have suffered in obscurity on the fringes of society, afraid for their lives to let their true selves be revealed. Now, they will have all of the same legal protections enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts.

Change is hard.

There are those who will respond to this change with fear or hatred in their hearts. When civil rights were granted to women and African Americans, the response was the same – claiming threats to public peace, Christian values and national heritage, fearing societal collapse and the like.

Well, times change. If giving same-sex couples the right to marry sentenced a society to collapse, then maybe that society doesn’t deserve to stand. But consider, the south is still standing without slavery, and slavery was the very core of its social and economic structure.

In considering the veracity of these fears, none of them have any bearing in reality.

Reading the cases brought before the court and knowing members of the LGBT community personally brings the issue into focus.

These are Americans who are struggling, like most of us, to make ends meet, pursue their dreams and honor the people they love. It’s about time they be granted that right.

The moving final paragraph of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion says it perfectly:

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

Editor’s note: Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248.