A protester disrupted proceedings at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday as justices heard arguments about gay marriage.
The protester was an opponent of gay marriage and yelled out, “If you support gay marriage then you will burn in hell for eternity. This is an abomination of God.”
The man was quickly removed from the courtroom but continued yelling as he was ushered down the corridor.
The protester jumped up just after gay rights lawyer Mary Bonauto finished speaking. Bonauto is arguing in favor of gay marriage.
After order was restored, Justice Antonin Scalia joked that the disruption was “rather refreshing.”
The court continued oral arguments as soon as the protester was removed.
Court watchers expect Justice Kennedy to be a likely swing vote on the matter, yet Kennedy did seem to be offended by the argument offered by the lawyer representing the state of Michigan.
Kennedy took issue with the state’s desire to continue to refuse to grant gay couples the ability to adopt children. The state, Kennedy felt, was claiming that children can only bond with opposite-sex couples, and he responded saying, “it’s just a wrong premise.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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