For too long the U.S. Supreme Court has ducked cases involving the rights of same-sex couples to wed, allowing lower-court rulings to stand.

For the most part, this hands-off approach has benefited proponents of same-sex marriage, since rulings have been largely in their favor. In October alone the high court let stand five lower-court decisions that overturned state bans of the practice.

Last week, though, Cincinnati's 6th Circuit upheld prohibitions on same-sex marriage in four states, and most legal experts predict the Supreme Court will now consider an appeal.

This newspaper joins a growing groundswell supporting the rights for all people regardless of sexual orientation and urges the court to finally make same-sex marriage the law of the land.

Though the Roberts Court has been reliably conservative since Chief Justice John G. Roberts was sworn in nine years ago, many of its controversial rulings have been 5-4, with Justice Anthony Kennedy often the swing vote.

Last month Mr. Kennedy initially placed a temporary hold on a lower court ruling that would have allowed same-sex marriage to begin in Idaho and Nevada, but then quickly lifted the hold in Nevada. Same-sex-marriage advocates take this as a hopeful sign - but at the same time, Justice Roberts' order blocking same-sex marriage remained intact in Idaho because, unlike Nevada, that state did not request the restriction be lifted.

The high court must eliminate such state-by-state confusion, once and for all.

We are pleased that Connecticut is one of 32 states that allow same-sex marriage, but disappointed that gay and lesbian couples' rights dissolve if they moved to any of the 18 where the practice is banned. This is fundamentally unfair.

Married couples enjoy numerous financial, legal and ideally, emotional advantages, as pointed out on this page by columnist Cal Thomas ("Want to be wealthier? Simple: get married.")

A social and political conservative, Mr. Thomas likely assumed readers understood he was referring only to heterosexual couples when he quoted sociologist Melanie Heath as saying married people "are happier, healthier and better off financially."

Mr. Thomas' column also supports CNBC commentator Larry Kudlow's suggestion that committed marital relationships make for stronger families, economies and nations - again, without specifying orientation.

We couldn't agree more - as long as his comment also applied to same-sex couples.