given farmers rich soil for hundreds of years. there is a lot of respect for this mountain. but what has sustained life here for so long now could so quickly take it away. lots more on aljazeera.com. [ cheers and applause ] a stunning moment at the supreme court. the justices in a 5-4 ruling legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. and mourning in charleston the city pauses to mourn a pastor gunned down at the emanual ame church. president obama will deliver the yule give. ♪

this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm lisa fletcher. we are covering two major stories today. these are live pictures from charleston where the funeral is taking place for reverend pinckney he was murdered inside the emanual ame church along with eight others. but first the ruling from the supreme court legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. president obama said today we have, quote, made our union a little more perfect. let's bring in mike viqueira. mike we're watching history unfold here. >> we absolutely are, it is a sweeping -- it is a total victory for proponents of same-sex marriage marriage equality it will now be effect

ively throughout the united states. if individuals get married in states where same-sex marriage is legal, must they be recognized by states that do not recognize same-sex marriages? and also the question of should same-sex marriage be legal or is it up to each individual state to determine how they license and recognize marriages? on both of those counts the supreme court in a narrowly divided opinion, 5-4 came down on the side of proponents of same-sex marriage. again, it is legal throughout the united states as of this morning. really an historic ruling here. the chief plaintiff here before the court had been here for days awaiting this decision. each decision day of the supreme court he waited. today the decision finally coming down. he spoke on the steps of the court moments after the court

delivered its decision. >> when the man i loved and cared for passed away from one of the cruellest diseases known to humanity the state of ohio continued to fight my right to list my name on john's death certificate. no american should have to suffer that indignity. that's why john and i and the 30 plaintiffs who are part of this lawsuit decided to fight. >> reporter: you heard some of the jubilation and buoyancy of the supporters around this ruling. it is still a lot of activity here. there has been singing and the singing of the national anthem time and time again. i want to read a little bit from the swing justice, again, justice anthony kennedy, delivering a long opinion but in part concluding the challenged

laws burden think liberty of same-sex couples and abridge central presents of equality. a stunning and historic i havery today for proponents of same-sex marriage. lisa? >> mike viqueira thank you. randall pinkston is at the white house. randall we got a rare glimpse of the president preparing his remarks in the oval office his delivery of those remarks, without prompters or notes, deliberate, and certainly heart felt this was a major ruling for him, wasn't it? >> absolutely. keep in mind as mike viqueira pointed out earlier, that as a senator and legislator back in illinois obama was not in favor of same-sex marriage. he believed that marriage was a pakt between a man and woman, and retained that view even after he reached the white house. only after vice president biden

made a statement, did he begin to evolve in his point of view. but today before leaving for south carolina he made a long and impassioned statement supporting the decision of the supreme court, saying that people should be treated equally, regardless of who they love; that this ruling is a victory for all of the plaintiffs, for gay and lesbian couples everywhere, for their children families and america. but even as he hailed that decision, he recognized what the four justices in dissent pointed out, that there are many who don't agree. >> i know americans of goodwill continue to hold a wide range of view on this issue. opposition in some cases has been based on sincere and deeply held beliefs. all of us should be mindful of that fact recognize different

viewpoints revere our deep commitment to religious freedom. >> reporter: of course as we mentioned earlier, vice president biden helped the president come to this point of view, when he biden, was the first member of the administration to come out in favor of same-sex marriage. the vice president tweeted today: this administration signalling that this is indeed a momentous historic day for the nation. lisa? >> thank you. our adam may has been at the supreme court since the decision came down and you spoke with greg and michael from kentucky they were two of the plaintiffs in the case. >> reporter: right, there are actually six different couples that made up this case from the

6th circuit. they are the couple from kei that sued the governor to have their marriage recognized. they were married in canada and when they moved back to their home state of kentucky their marriage was simply not recognized. they are raising two kids that they have adopted, but only one of those kids is on their birth certificate because of kentucky law. so they have been fighting for marriage equality saying they wanted to have protections in place for their family. and they are active in the catholic church. and they had this to say about their religion. >> we need to pause and give thanks to god. as life-long practicing catholics, we feel like this is god's intention and god's work. we embrace it and thank god for it. >> we did see groups out here from various -- representing various religious states catholics for equality baptists for equality there was a small group on the other side there

that were protesting against marriage equality and after the verdict came down they left rather quickly, and they are no longer here but right here outside of the supreme court, still now two hours after the decision came down still hundreds of people standing out here waving rainbow flags and equality signs, there is definitely a feeling of celebration here. >> adam may at the supreme court. thank you. >> jim and john were the plaintiffs in alabama, they are live in mobile alabama on the steps of the courthouse. jim, john your reaction to this morning? >> well, we're very excited today. we feel like we have won a victory, and now we can move forward. >> yeah. it's definitely been a long -- a long wait. and we got it though. >> tell me -- tell me what this

is going to mean for you monday morning? how are things going to change in your life? >> well it will give us a better aspect. i can do things i need to do to take care of my medical history and give things to john that i need to be taken care of where before we couldn't do it legally because of the marriage status. so this is going to be a big upchange for us. >> what does it mean for you personally? i know a lot of people say they felt like second-class citizens. they felt like they weren't whole in terms of the way their relationships were recognized. does this give you a new sense of -- i don't know everything is good everything is right. you are not going to be singled out as different or less than? >> yeah. >> that's the way it should be. i mean i feel like this has been a long-time coming.

we -- a very good friend of ours has been fighting for gay rights since 1977, and he helped us write our case up and we won our case and now we're moving forward. i mean i'm excited, i -- i can't wait to see what new days lies ahead of us >> we can finally start living our life -- >> go ahead. finish. you -- >> we are finally start living our life just as any other -- as any other married couple. >> that's right. >> the president had said this morning that sometimes these things come in increments of two steps forward and one step back and you get these big moments which are historic but it is really the result of these small acts of courage along the way. when you look back at your history together as a couple and of your friends who have been in the same circumstance,

what are the small acts of courage you are reminded of in your own personal journey? >> you know, i'm so excited over this it's just hard to believe that we fought alabama to win same-sex marriage. >> and we won it. >> we won it. without a lawyer. >> without any hatred. >> i mean -- >> -- >> -- we were very fortunate that we got to be a part of history today. >> yes it really meant a lot to us. >> there's no doubt about that. i can see. >> like i said we -- >> go ahead. >> you know, when you -- when you live in the south, it's a completely different atmosphere here. people don't accept things like they do up north. so you know, this is a big victory for us. >> you raise an interesting point -- >> we had confident we could do it. >> yeah, you raise an

interesting point, though, and that is you live in a part of the country where it may have been more difficult than other parts of the country, and just because the supreme court made this decision, doesn't mean that hearts and minds are going to change overnight. how are you prepared to deal with that as you move forward. >> it is going to take time. we'll take it one day at a time. we're not going nowhere, we're here to stay. we're here to fight for not just us but everyone. we're here to fight for the gays and lesbians and transgerns of alabama, we're going to stick together. >> all right. thank you very much. >> that's where we started and that's where we're going to finish. >> militia chan is live in san francisco. what has the reaction been like where you are? >> reporter: starting from early morning, some couples have decided that they will choose to

get married on this very historic day, and right now behind me there is a big crowd, and earlier the mayor came out to speak. he talked about the great day, and we also expect the lieutenant governor to come out. for those of you who might remember, he was once a upon a time major of san francisco, and he was the one issuing marriage licenses at that time it was considered quite a fringe move. the other politician to respond this morning, senator diane feinstein. it's important to talk about politicians in this state because they were at the forefront and worked with gay activists. she was once major of san francisco after the assassination of george musconey so very emotional for

feinstein, and she has been with this movement almost from the beginning, and has seen the long arc of justice. >> this decision comes as the city is preparing for a huge gay pride weekend. >> reporter: absolutely. the timing could not be any better. we expect a big party tonight. a lot of out of towners coming to san francisco for the largest gay pride parade taking place here. there has been lots of honking and lots of people converging and celebrating. >> all right. melissa chan thank you. bisi onile-ere is in ann arbor, michigan two of the plaintiffs in the case are they with you there now? >> hi there. i have to hold my finger to my

ear, because there is a lot of celebrating going on here. they were here behind me -- they addressed the crowd, thanking them for all of their support through all of this and just really pinching themselves really can't believe that this day has come. joining me live is pastor greg bricks. this was an historic moment. what was it like for you? >> it was one of the most moving experiences i have seen in a very long time. as they said in their press conference, just the fact it took them four and a half years of getting to the point to marry the person they love. it's a testament to love. it's beautiful. >> reporter: where do you think gay rights goes from here? >> even though marriage equality is now the law of the land, in many places including michigan, you can still be fired, not have a place to live or be discriminated against because you are gay. so we still have to work for equal equality for everyone in all things.

so there is a ton of work still to be done. >> reporter: thank you pastor. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: again i can tell you a lot of celebration here. >> all right. bisi onile-ere in ann arbor, michigan. thank you. kathy rena is a gay rights activist and former spokesperson for the gay and lesbian alliance against discrimination. thanks for being here. >> absolutely. >> we're seeing all of these states -- >> alabama. >> alabama -- starting to issue marriage licenses right? >> yes. >> but the pastor said these couples still will be terminated from their work for marrying a person of the same sex. >> this is a tremendous moment in american history. thank you to every plaintiff who has put their lives on the line.

every activist who has been working for decades, freedom to marry, who really is the architect of the movement called this a transformational movement this morning. and he is absolutely right. but it doesn't mean the work is done as you know, a number of people have said we still don't have federal job protection. so we have to think about those individuals who may get married on friday or saturday put it on facebook, and on monday they could be fired from their jobs. >> what are the types of protections we're going to see from this community? >> i think the fight is now about job protection. i think we're also talking about more inclusive work related to transgender people. including and looking at the issues faced by very -- more diverse populations in the lbgt

community. i work with sage who works with elder lbgt people. youth, we still see -- despite all of this celebration of victory, we still see kids being thrown out of their homes because they are lesbian, gay, transgender, 40% of the homeless kids on the streets are lbgt. that's criminal and these are all still issues we need to work on. >> mike viqueira mentioned there has been so much patriotism today, the national anthem over and over again on the steps of the supreme court. do you think patriotism feels a little bit different for the gay community today? >> sure i feel like a full equal american citizen. let's stop calling it gay marriage or same-sex marriage let's just call it what it is marriage. and that's why this movement has seen the progress it has as quickly as it had, because the

general public people around the world, frankly, understand when you say i am married to this person. they understand the commitment and the rights that come along with it and they understand the concept. before it was very abstract. and as more of us came out as individuals, couples, and families -- you know think about the thousands of kids -- justice kennedy, i think was very sueded by the fact that hundreds of thousands of kids in this country are being raised by same-sex couples. i have a doubter, and to go from one state to the next and lose mier parental rights is criminal. >> there have been a lot of moves on the community, in the grand scheme of things this has happened pretty fast in terms of a civil rights movement.

>> absolutely. >> look at the funeral being held today in south carolina and the black community is still fighting after hundreds of years. >> absolutely. >> to what do you attribute this relatively quick pace? >> it is little sweet. my daughter lives in charleston and there's so much sympathy and empathy that i have for their families and i think we also have to understand that we can change the laws and move public opinion, but it's like saying there is no racism in this country, or sexism because we have laws that protect people. so we have a long way to go culturally. like the gentlemen in alabama said we're going to take it one day at a time. they are going to go to their neighbors, go to the doctor go shopping -- >> but the worlds from the

supreme court are important and set the tone but those individual actions every day -- >> absolutely. the visibility of our community in the past four to five years has -- and that's what i have worked on for 25 yearsover my career, has just exploded. as i like to joke someone put their foot on the gas pedal for lbgt rights. and whether it's somebody on "modern family," or adam lampert on american idol. >> that's right. thank you very much. up next this is the live look at the memorial service for reverend pinckney. we'll bring you a live report from charleston up next.

in south carolina reverend and state senator, clementa pinckney is being laid to rest we was the pastor of the emanual ame church.

president obama and the first lady flew to south carolina a few moments ago. the family of the shooter released a statement, saying in part: >> del walters joins us now live from charleston. del, undoubtedly a somber mood there. >> lisa it is somber but celebratory. in fact it was nine days ago that dylann roof opened fire inside the church according to authorities, killing nine, including the pastor who is being laid to rest. but i want to read a quote from what the pastor said today, someone should have told that young man he came to the wrong place. there are banners inside the church that say wrong church

wrong people wrong day. i guess when you open the program to senator pinckney there are two letters from his daughters, one leads to my daddy, when someone loves you they care even if they are not there: we asked the reverend jesse jackson earlier this morning, why there is so much of a change in tone here in south carolina. this is what he had to say. >> this massacre that took place in the church [ inaudible ] expectations are much higher even than they were 50 years ago, and now you see in charleston this outpouring of

joy and pain as opposed to [ inaudible ], and that's a good thing. >> and that is the situation in a nutshell here which is that they have said they want to turn anger into action; that there is no room in their hearts for hate. we talked to many of the people who have been gathered here today. they are white, black, and asian, and on this day they are gay and they are straight they say this is the face of the new south. perhaps the most notable quote i have heard, is that they believe what happened inside this church signaled the beginning of the end of the civil war, and how they were talking about how nine days ago a gunmen opened fire inside the church and within a week we're talking about the confederate flag coming down and the hallmark changes in washington, d.c. lisa? >> i remember seeing an incredible revenue with the reverend pinckney's son and daughter shortly after the shooting, and i was so moved to

that. in her statement to dylann roof she said love love will win. and we're looking at this idea of action versus anger. do you think that tone was really set from the victims, from that core of victims from very early on where they made that choice they were going to deal with this in a way that didn't evoke violence and anger in the community? >> reporter: i think if there has been a frustration voiced in the pulpits of the black church it has been when we have seen demonstrations like in ferguson and new york that there is a segment of black society that lines up to go to church and hear those sermons each sunday this was their opportunity to put those words into action and that's what they are doing. >> del walters thank you so much. and thank you for watching.

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>> my name is imran garda i am the host of third rail and you can find it on al jazeera america dozens of tourists are shot dead as gunmen target a beach side resort in tunisia. we'll have a live report. ♪ hello there, i'm barbara sarah, you are watching al jazeera live from london. a bomb explodes at a mosque in kuwait at least 25 people died. in france a man is beheaded by attackers who targeted a gas plant profited by an american chemical company. european leaders agree to