In what is believed to be a first for a Supreme Court justice,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg will officiate at the wedding of a gay couple
this weekend.
According to the AP, Ginsburg will preside Saturday at the
marriage of Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and economist
John Roberts.
“Michael Kaiser is a friend and someone I much admire,”
Ginsburg said in a statement released Friday. “That is why I am
officiating at his wedding.”
The couple's wedding will take place at the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in the District of Columbia, which legalized such
unions in 2009.
In an interview with The
Washington Post, Ginsburg added: “I think it will be one
more statement that people who love each other and want to live
together should be able to enjoy the blessings and the strife in the
marriage relationship.”
Kaiser, in remarks to the AP, said that it was an honor to have
Ginsburg at his wedding.
“It's very meaningful mostly to have a friend officiate, and
then for someone of her stature, it's a very big honor,” he said.
“I think that everything that's going on that makes same-sex
marriage possible and visible helps to encourage others and to make
the issue seem less of an issue, to make it just more part of life.”
Ginsburg, 80, has a second same-sex ceremony planned for
September.