NEW YORK -- Despite opposition from religious groups and presidential candidates to Friday’s judgement on same-sex marriage by the Supreme Court, states across the US have quickly fallen into line with the ruling.
Even the conservative bastions of Louisiana and Mississippi, which had initially baulked at issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, appeared to have relented, with the New York Times reporting on Tuesday that clerks in parishes across the Pelican State had taken it upon themselves to start issuing documentation.
Likewise the state of Mississippi, which halted issuing licenses on Friday under instruction from Attorney General Jim Hood. On Monday, Hood said he would leave it up to county clerks to decide.
Yet sexual orientation remains a hugely divisive issue, with Republican presidential candidates likely to reflect the angst felt by millions of religious conservatives in the run up to the 2016 election. And while members of the LGBT community have more rights than ever before, real equality remains some way off. Could, for example, an openly gay American win election to the White House?
Like President Obama and the civil rights movement, it could take a generation before the fruits of Friday’s victory are seen in the Oval Office. We are, after all, still awaiting the first female President. Yet the pace of change is such that it could be as soon as 2020.
On Sunday, the HuffPost UK attended the annual Pride event in New York to ask revelers about the progress on LGBT rights, as well as the likelihood of America electing its first openly gay commander-in-chief.
Watch the video above.