By Cate Carrejo

Same-sex marriage was approved in Alabama Monday as the Supreme Court denied a request from the State of Alabama for a delay on the approval. Although the Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) verdict should clearly make the decision irrefutable, the probate judges in Alabama have been boldly ignoring federal law by refusing all day to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples, enraging the couples who are trying to have their marriages legally recognized in their home states.

I’m not sure how SCOTUS thought that was going to work out. Alabama is the “Land that Time Forgot” — since the turn of last century, the state has established itself as socially hyper-conservative in every major civil rights issue. Alabama still has active Klu Klux Klan chapters and sororities at the University of Alabama (which is a public, federally-funded university) have openly admitted to discriminating membership by race. So, when did SCOTUS say that Alabama did not have the right to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples?

I grew up in Houston, which tends to be a very liberal city. But, outside of Texas’ major cities, the overwhelming majority still remains firmly against same-sex marriage. Texas will never approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, and any federal court decisions will be fought tooth and nail until the Obama administration gets it together and introduces sweeping, permanent legislation to approve and support the marriage of same-sex couples.

President Obama ran his 2008 campaign with the repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act solidly on his platform. While it is true that Obama has done more than any president before him to secure rights for same-sex couples across the nation, one has to believe that he and his administration could be doing more. According to polls taken in September and October 2014, following the legalization of same-sex marriage in a number of states, the majority of the American public now supports same-sex marriage. So, what is the hold up on federal legislation?

Furthermore, with the election cycle quickly approaching, any qualified Democrat or Independent who comes out in strong support of pushing federal legislation before the end of the Obama Administration could position himself or herself as a key figure for the 2016 race. Swing states like Florida and Pennsylvania, which now permit same-sex marriage, will be essential in winning the next election, and the issue of same-sex marriage could be a huge deciding factor in those states supporting a candidate.

Should a member of Congress become public and powerful in drafting and pushing new legislation onto the floor in the next year and a half, like the Respect for Marriage Act by California Senator Dianne Feinstein and New York Representative Jerrold Nadler, he or she may find himself or herself with an eye toward the Oval Office in 2016.