Watch: President Obama Speaks on Supreme Court’s Decision to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage [Full Transcript + Video]

Following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage Friday morning, President Obama delivered a statement from the Rose Garden, labelling the 5-4 ruling “a victory for gay and lesbian couples who have fought so long for their basic civil rights.”

Watch President Obama deliver his statement on the ruling below, or read the full transcript that follows.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Our nation was founded on a bedrock
principle that we are all created equal. The project of each generation
is to bridge the meaning of those founding words with the realities of
changing times — a never-ending quest to ensure those words ring true
for every single American.

Progress on this journey often comes
in small increments. Sometimes two steps forward, one step back,
compelled by the persistent effort of dedicated citizens. And then
sometimes there are days like this, when that slow, steady effort is
rewarded with justice that arrives like a thunderbolt.

This morning, the Supreme Court
recognized that the Constitution guarantees marriage equality. In doing
so, they have reaffirmed that all Americans are entitled to the equal
protection of the law; that all people should be treated equally,
regardless of who they are or who they love.

This decision will end the patchwork
system we currently have. It will end the uncertainty hundreds of
thousands of same-sex couples face from not knowing whether they’re
marriage, legitimate in the eyes of one state, will remain if they
decide to move or even visit another.

This ruling will strengthen all of
our communities by offering to all loving same-sex couples the dignity
of marriage across this great land.

In my second inaugural address, I
said that if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit
to one another must be equal as well. It is gratifying to see that
principle enshrined into law by this decision.

This ruling is a victory for Jim
Obergefell and the other plaintiffs in the case. It’s a victory for gay
and lesbian couples who have fought so long for their basic civil
rights. It’s a victory for their children, whose families will now be
recognized as equal to any other. 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. This decision affirms what millions of Americans already
believe in their hearts. When all Americans are treated as equal, we are
all more free.

My administration has been guided by
that idea. It’s why we stopped defending the so-called Defense of
Marriage Act and why we were pleased when the court finally struck down
the central provision of that discriminatory law. It’s why we ended,
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

From extending full marital benefits
to federal employees and their spouses to expanding hospital visitation
rights for LGBT patients and their loved ones, we’ve made real progress
in advancing equality for LGBT Americans in ways that were unimaginable
not too long ago.

I know a change for many of our LGBT
brothers and sisters must have seemed so slow for so long. But compared
to so many other issues, America’s shift has been so quick.

I know that Americans of good will
continue to hold a wide range of views on this issue. Opposition, in
some cases, has been based on sincere and deeply held beliefs. All of us
who welcome today’s news should be mindful of that fact and recognize
different viewpoints, revere our deep commitment to religious freedom.

But today should also give us hope
that on the many issues with which we grapple, often painfully, real
change is possible. Shift in hearts and minds is possible. And those who
have come so far on their journey to equality have a responsibility to
reach back and help others join them, because for all of our
differences, we are one people, stronger together than we could ever be
alone. That’s always been our story.

We are big and vast and diverse, a
nation of people with different backgrounds and beliefs, different
experiences and stories but bound by the shared ideal that no matter who
you are or what you look like, how you started off or how and who you
love, America is a place where you can write your own destiny.

We are people who believe every child
is entitled to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There is
so much more work to be done to extend the full promise of America to
every American. But today, we can say in no uncertain terms that we’ve
made our union a little more perfect.

That’s the consequence of a decision
from the Supreme Court, but more importantly, it is a consequence of the
countless small acts of courage of millions of people across decades
who stood up, who came out, talked to parents, parents who loved their
children no matter what, folks who were willing to endure bullying and
taunts, and stayed strong, and came to believe in themselves and who
they were.

And slowly made an entire country realize that love is love.

What an extraordinary achievement,
but what a vindication of the belief that ordinary people can do
extraordinary things; what a reminder of what Bobby Kennedy once said
about how small actions can be like pebbles being thrown into a still
lake, and ripples of hope cascade outwards and change the world.

Those countless, often anonymous heroes, they deserve our thanks. They should be very proud. America should be very proud.

Thank you.

[via Washington Post]