Jeffrey Wise and his partner Alex Enderle are elated by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision and the impact it will have on gay kids.
"This ruling will change their world,” said Wise.
"It is a huge step in feeling validated in this community especially in Ohio where it has been lackluster in the past few years especially in 2004,” said Enderle.
It was just 11 years ago, back in 2004, when Ohio voters passed the gay marriage ban and many in the gay community including Wise felt it would never be overturned.
"I remember the feeling that I had at that point like I didn't belong, feeling a little lost and feeling like I didn't belong in the state,” he said.
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But Wise said the ruling by the Supreme Court has changed that and he and his partner believe the decision will change the lives of young gay teens for the better, allowing them to finally envision a traditional life.
"It will allow them to choose that life and have it be accepted by society and defended by our constitution, something I didn't have up until today,” said Wise.
"The real victims here are kids coming out with huge amounts of fear,” said Enderle. "This is just a huge step in fixing a lot of the problems we have in our society."
"To set the stage for these kids to be able to enter into something like that and not just have it be on a private level, but also have it public, and have it supported, and protected is very, very important, and I'm so excited this happened today,” said Wise.
There are many resources for gay youths including the Kaleidoscope Youth Center in Columbus. For more information, visit www.kycohio.org.
