WATCH: Counsel with anti-same-sex marriage advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, slammed the Supreme Court ruling saying the decision “chokes off” debate and silences the wishes of “over 300 million Americans.”
The Supreme Court of the United States said in a historic ruling Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry in all 50 states.
The ruling was celebrated by many and a huge crowd of people outside the Supreme Court chanted “love has won” and sang the American national anthem while awaiting reaction from lawyers.
Most of the reaction was similarly positive across the country as President Barack Obama tweeted it was a “big step in our march toward equality.”
“It’s a victory for the allies and friends and supporters who spent years, even decades, working and praying for change to come. And this ruling is a victory for America,” he said at a morning press conference.
Same-sex marriage was already legal in most of the country but Friday’s 5-4 ruling by the court means the remaining 14 states, mostly in the south and Midwest of the country, will have to stop enforcing their ban on same-sex marriage. The ruling won’t take effect immediately as the opposition is allowed three weeks to ask the court to reconsider.
But praise came swiftly following the ruling Friday.
Democratic house leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement following the ruling that the decision is “about creating a future where loving, committed families are able to live with dignity.”
“This is about freedom. This is about love. This is transformative, not only for LGBT families, but for America,” she wrote.
WATCH: Texas county clerks refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses following Supreme Court ruling
But not everyone was happy with the decision to extend marriage equality to same-sex couples. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a dissenting opinion that his court has no business ruling on the matter.
“This court is not a legislature. Whether same-sex marriage is a good idea should be of no concern to us,” he wrote.
The idea that the Supreme Court should not be ruling on same-sex marriage was echoed by several Republican presidential candidates who invoked Christianity in their opposition.
“This decision will pave the way for an all-out assault against the religious freedom rights of Christians who disagree with this decision. This ruling must not be used as pretext by Washington to erode our right to religious liberty,” Presidential candidate Bobby Jindal wrote.
Two-time Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee made a similar, but more defiant, statement saying he wouldn’t acquiesce to an “imperial court.”
“The Supreme Court has spoken with a very divided voice on something only the Supreme Being can do-redefine marriage,” Huckabee said. “I will not acquiesce to an imperial court any more than our Founders acquiesced to an imperial British monarch. We must resist and reject judicial tyranny, not retreat.”
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