Within hours after the Supreme Court
ruled in two cases related to gay marriage, singer Melissa Etheridge
announced plans to marry partner Linda Wallem.
“I look forward to exercising my
American civil liberties and getting fully, completely and legally
married this year to my true love of over three years, Linda Wallem,”
Etheridge said in a statement.
“Once again our constitution stands
strong,” she added. “All men, and women, and everything in
between are created equal.”
The 52-year-old Wallem is a creator and
executive producer of premier cable network Showtime's Nurse
Jackie.
The rulings clear the way for
California to become the 13th state to legalize gay
nuptials, and for the first time the federal government must
recognize the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
Etheridge, also 52, split from actress
Tammy Lynn Michaels, her partner of 9 years, in 2011. They share
joint custody of the couple's twin children, son Miller and daughter
Johnnie Rose. Etheridge also shares joint custody of two children –
Bailey Jean and Beckett – from a previous relationship with Julie
Cypher.