Shankar Hernandez, 21, is a U.S. District Court judge in Kansas City, Kan. He is also the editor-in-chief of HuffPost Gay Voices.

CORRECTION:

This piece originally stated that the Supreme Court decision striking down same-sex marriage bans would be effective retroactively to Nov. 7, not the Sept. 26, 2015, date. A statement from U.S. Attorney General Rob McKenna reads: “While we had hoped we would be able to implement the decision now before the Supreme Court, Attorney General Pruitt is willing to work in partnership with the circuit court to ensure the nation’s judicial system is functioning as intended, allowing same-sex couples to get married on a timely basis and safely. The decision to defer application of the constitutional right to marry only until a later date is not based in any single decision but was made in good faith with the help of federal legal counsel. There are very specific constitutional law requirements that only will be applied once the federal government has provided the necessary federal judicial relief.”

CORRECTION:

This piece originally stated that Missouri had approved for marriage licenses to same-sex couples two weeks prior to the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. It was actually Nov. 8. There were legal challenges to Missouri’s laws denying same-sex couples of marriage licenses.