1. In its upcoming ruling on same-sex marriage, the U.S. Supreme Court will actually adjudicate four separate cases, consolidated under Obergefell v. Hodges. That case pivots around two issues: Is a state required to license a same-sex marriage; and/or is a state required to recognize a same-sex marriage lawfully performed elsewhere?
2. The court's decision could produce one of three possible outcomes: It rules that a right to same-sex marriage exists in the Constitution, legalizing the practice nationally, instantly; it rules that a right does not exist; or it rules that a right does not exist, but requires all states to recognize marriages lawfully performed elsewhere.
3. The court's reading of the due process and equal protection clauses in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments is the bedrock for some of its landmark decisions, including the right to privacy crystallized in Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas, and is expected to be a major element of the possible pro-equality ruling. Such an interpretation is not without controversy, however, as some critics say it amounts to "discovering" new rights within the Constitution.
4. It's widely assumed the court will rule in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide. And despite a sea-change in public opinion on the issue across almost every demographic (race, religion, age), opposition is expected to continue at a local and state level.
5. Metro businesses are preparing, including local caterers, photographers and hotels as the emerging same-sex wedding industry could have a nearly $80 million economic impact, according to one study. And Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is prepared to extend spousal benefits to its gay employees in Georgia.
6. The government is preparing for gay marriage, too, where the Council of Probate Judges is ready to substitute "applicant 1" and "applicant 2" for "bride" and "groom" on the state's marriage forms.
7. Sam Olens, Georgia's attorney general, has made it clear that the state will not follow in the steps of Alabama, where judges resisted a federal ruling to issue same-sex marriage licenses. "We're going to encourage all those agencies that have a policy role that they immediately follow the law. I cringe just as much when an attorney general seeks to defy the law as anyone else," he said.
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