Within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same-gender marriages throughout the nation, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster moved to dismiss two lawsuit appeals pending in state and federal courts.
Koster, a Democrat, also is running for governor next year, and said in a statement from his political campaign, "The history of our country has always been one of moving toward inclusion and equality. I applaud the court for their courage and strong sense of fairness.
"Missourians should be seen as equals under the law; regardless of their gender, race, or whom they love."
Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, called the 5-4 high court ruling "a major victory for equality and an important step toward a fairer and more just society for all Americans," adding, "No one should be discriminated against because of who they are or who they love.
"In the coming days, I will be taking all necessary and appropriate actions to ensure this decision is implemented throughout the state of Missouri."
But the Missouri Senate's top leaders questioned the ruling.
"This decision has strong bearing on the ability of the citizens of our state to establish by public vote the social constructs under which they will live," Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, said in a news release. "In 2004, the citizens of our state voted overwhelmingly to put into the Missouri Constitution a definition of marriage that reflected the history and traditions of Western civilization for centuries."
Dempsey noted 70 percent of the Missourians who voted in August 2004 passed a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as being only between one man and one woman.
"Now," he said, "a handful of lawyers in Washington, D.C., have decided that they know better and that citizens are incapable of determining such important questions under their own state laws and constitutions."
Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin, said, "We are deeply concerned about the ripple effects of this decision.
"Will certain religious organizations and people of many different faiths now have to choose between violating their deeply held beliefs or risk being dragged into court?"
Dempsey added, "It is ironic to note that in the Court's rush to unearth a Constitutional right to redefine marriage ... they have blindly stumbled over the plain meaning of the First Amendment which guarantees every citizen the freedom to exercise their religion according to the dictates of their own conscience."
But Rep. Mike Colona, D-St. Louis, said, "This ruling does nothing to change the definition of marriage when it comes to one's church or religious beliefs. No clergyman will be forced to perform a same-sex marriage; no religion will be compelled to recognize them."
Colona also said, "I am overjoyed the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the Constitution prohibits government from treating me like a second-class citizen and guarantees my right to marry my partner of 23 years."
However, Richard said, "The Constitution of the United States which every member of the Supreme Court is sworn to uphold specifically reserves powers not explicitly given to the federal government to the individual states."
In his opinion for the five-judge majority, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote marriage is a constitutional "right," not a power delegated to the federal or state governments.
The plaintiffs in the case "ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law," he wrote. "The Constitution grants them that right.
"The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach."
Former Rep. Joe Oertwerth, R-St. Charles - now director of the Missouri Family Policy Council - said in a statement the decision was "a reckless ruling that will have a devastating impact on the future of our nation. ... This disgraceful decision is the latest, most evident sign of the moral bankruptcy of the U.S. Government, the moral corruption of its leaders, the vile decadence of American culture and society, and the growing Godlessness of the American people.
"As a result of this atrocious ruling, God's design for marriage and the family has now been fully perverted, and the sacred institution of marriage has been legally transformed into an abomination ... and unless our nation reverses its course, America will continue to rot from within."
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, issued no formal statement, but said on Twitter, "It's a good day. No more discrimination against folks based on who they love! I love my country."