the us supreme court's  arguments on tuesday over same sex marriage will cap more than  two decades of litigation and a transformation in public  attitudes based on the court's actions during the past two years, a  sense of inevitability is in the air: that a majority is on the  verge of declaring gay marriage legal nationwide justice anthony kennedy, the court's pivotal member on gay  rights, has been marching in this direction with opinions dating  to 1996 in his most recent gay rights decision for the court in  2013, rejecting a legal definition of marriage limited to a man  and woman for purposes of federal benefits, kennedy deplored  that us law for making gay marriages 'unequal' scroll down for video  a moment in history: people line up outside the supreme court in washington april 26 ahead of tuesday's arguments focusing on gay marriage  that 5 4 decision did not address a constitutional right to  same sex marriage, but lower court judges interpreted the ruling  as an endorsement of it and began invalidating state bans when states appealed rulings striking down their same sex  marriage prohibitions, the supreme court declined to intervene,  most notably in october 2014 when it denied appeals in seven  cases on a single day instead, the nine justices are hearing in tuesday's oral  arguments an appeal of the sole decision from a regional us appeals court that went the opposite way last november, the  cincinnati based us court of appeals for the 6th circuit  upheld gay marriage bans in ohio, michigan, kentucky and  tennessee with 37 of the 50 states now permitting gay marriage, many  because of judicial orders, it seems unlikely the country's  highest court would reverse course public opinion polls over  the last decade have shown large increases in support for gay  marriage a ruling is due by the end of june yet some questions remain how much will kennedy, a member of the court's five man  conservative bloc who often casts decisive votes in close cases,  show his hand in the 2 1/2 hours of oral arguments? will he  reveal a clear view that the constitution gives gay people a  right to marry or will he voice concerns for state interests in  controlling marriage laws? an element of uncertainty hovers over chief justice john  roberts, who broke with the other court conservatives and cast  the deciding vote upholding president barack obama's healthcare  law in 2012 roberts voted against gay rights in the 2013  ruling but he separated himself from the most conservative  dissenters and declined to declare outright that states may ban  gay marriage he has demonstrated apprehension about the reputation of the  court that, by virtue of his service as chief justice,  informally bears his name in his opinions, he has sometimes  tried to lower tensions in controversial cases and reassure  people that the court is aligning with precedent and public  expectations the question is not only how roberts might vote but what he  might write in the 2013 ruling, he denounced the court majority's  sentiment that federal lawmakers were deliberately harming gay  people with the limited definition of marriage 'i would not tar  the political branches with the brush of bigotry,' he wrote for the other seven justices, expectations are clearer the four liberals, ruth bader ginsburg, stephen breyer,  sonia sotomayor and elena kagan, have signaled their opposition  to state same sex marriage bans on the other side have been the  three most conservative justices, antonin scalia, clarence  thomas and samuel alito, asserting that nothing in the  constitution guarantees same sex marriage two legal questions are before the justices: whether the  constitution's guarantees of due process and equal protection  cover a right to same sex marriage; and, if they do not, whether  states that ban same sex marriages must recognize such unions  performed in other states gay couples and their families, about 30 adults and 20  children, have appealed the 6th circuit's decision the name  petitioner is james obergefell, who wanted his home state of  ohio, which prohibits gay marriage, to recognize his maryland  marriage to john arthur as arthur was dying from amyotrophic  lateral sclerosis, also known as lou gehrig's disease officials expect the courtroom to be packed to its 400 seat  capacity lines for general spectator seats began forming around  6am on friday, more than four days ahead of the scheduled  oral arguments at 10am on tuesday
us tuesday june
top us court is slated to hear arguments in a gay marriage case tuesday . a majority vote could make gay marriage legal nationwide . the court will publish a decision by june 