> Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life
> 1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
> 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
> Article 12- Right to marry
> Men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right
Even a dedicated textualist could find the above provisions ample justification for finding a right of same-sex couples to marry. Instead, the EU court adhered to a traditional definition of "marriage" and only found a right to civil unions and to mutual recognition across member states.
The U.S. Constitution, by contrast, contains no remotely similar provisions on which to premise a right for same-sex couples to marry. Yet, five justices, including a Reagan appointee, did just that. The U.S. Supreme Court is vastly less respectful of our democratic process than its counterparts in other developed countries.
They've ruled EU states have to recognize other countries' same-sex unions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coman_and_Others_v_General_Ins...) and required at least civil unions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliari_and_Others_v._Italy), which puts them well ahead of the pre-Obergefell USA.