No matter how anyone looks at the same-sex marriage rulings Wednesday, they were huge wins for gay rights advocates and a momentous move toward greater equality. Still, only 13 states and Washington, D.C. permit same-sex marriage while 37 have either explicitly banned it or offer less-than-equal civil unions, which is the best option yet for Illinoisans.

First to be struck down by the United States Supreme Court was the part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between only one man and one woman, which until Wednesday denied thousands of federal benefits to same-sex couples who live in states that permit such marriages. Next on the chopping block was the California ballot initiative Proposition 8, which stopped same-sex marriages there. 

After the dust settled toward the end of the week following the historic rulings, one thing was quite clear: The fight for equality is not over. Same-sex marriage is only legal in roughly a quarter of the United States, and we may be years away from complete marriage equality. But we’ve come along way in this country since Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, the first state to do so.

Legal experts agreed that it was possible for the Supreme Court to have widely ruled and declared same-sex marriages constitutional across the country, but it didn’t. In fact, the two rulings both made it through the court on a 5-4 decision, a divide that has come to be expected of the court in recent years. Only 30 percent of Americans live in a jurisdiction that legally permits same-sex couples to wed, yet only half of the country supports it.

So while California carries on with the slew of weddings set since the ruling and while three states’ same-sex marriage laws go into effect this summer, Illinoisans wait for their right. For most in Illinois, little impact from Wednesday’s rulings will be felt (aside from those who married outside of Illinois — they will reap the federal benefits from DOMA’s death), except that there may be a renewed and hopefully stronger push for legalization of same-sex marriage.

Last May, the Illinois legislature’s spring session came to a close without passing a Illinois Senate-approved bill to allow gay couples to marry in the state. The bill, which passed the Senate on Valentine’s Day, has support from several Illinois politicians including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Pat Quinn, who has said numerous times that he will sign it when its on his desk. Of course, former U.S. Sen. Barack Obama supports the legislation, too.

Gay rights activists and supporters in Illinois should have a more influential and rallying voice when the House resumes, which we can only hope pushes Illinois legislature to join the right side of history.  Even then, the fight will not be easy and likely won’t happen until January.

Since the rulings last week, several naysayers have shared their disappointment in the Supreme Court’s decision. Perhaps the loudest opposition directly following the decision was Michele Bachmann, who said, “Marriage was created by the hand of God. No man, not even a Supreme Court, can undo what a holy God has instituted.”

But if the trend toward an acceptance and support of same-sex marriage continues as it is, then to naysayers, we side with U.S. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi in her response to Bachmann: Who cares?