Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five states that ban same-sex marriage where Federal appeals courts serving those states (Indiana, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Utah), effectively making same-sex marriage legal in these states.

I had a few people, including my boss, ask me if I were celebrating.

Sure, in one way, I am happy for same-sex couples in those states who want to marry. I am still thrilled for being able to marry my man last year when our home state was the first to make same-sex marriage legal by popular vote (when a referendum against a law authorizing same-sex marriage in Maryland did not pass.)

But I am also deeply troubled that these decisions were made by court action — or in the case of the U.S. Supreme Court — inaction. There are many political reasons behind that decision that the pundits are all pontificating about. Liberal and open-minded people are jumping for joy while more conservative talk show blatherists are foaming at the mouth about “those activist judges.”

I personally am very disappointed in the Supreme Court’s inaction by kicking the can down the road. By not hearing any of the cases, they defer making a decision on behalf of our entire country, while state-by-state, same-sex marriage continues to make slow and painful progress.

I tell ya, this Supreme Court has been both good and bad — mostly bad — but I remain divided in my opinion. After all, it was this same court that overturned Section 3 of that hateful Defense of Marriage Act that prohibited Federal recognition of same-sex marriage. With that decision, my spouse was able to extend his Federal benefits to me, including health insurance and a survivor’s annuity should he predecease me.

The non-decision by the Supreme Court yesterday empowers the forces against same-sex marriage. History and past practice show that such actions drive out the conservative voter base, forecasting a more right-leaning outcome in the upcoming elections in states across the country. I refrain from making more political statements, but you can read the tea leaves as well as I can. Forecast is frightening for some, hopeful for others, and for most of us, daunting and discouraging because most likely, gridlock will be permanent.

I think one article that I read summed up my feelings well, “As a result of [the Supreme Court] decision, there will not be a 50-state resolution any time soon. But the direction of the country, if not the court, is clear, and that’s more important than any Supreme Court decision.”

Yes, the tide is turning. Forces against same-sex marriage are slowly being overcome. I just wish it didn’t have to be by lower court case-by-case judicial action, but by a clear statement of Federal law and favorable interpretation of our U.S. Consititution’s Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause by the cowardly and deviously political Supreme Court justices.

Okay, enough politics. Back to boots tomorrow.

Life is short: observe future impacts from short-term wins.