FTC executive director Gabe Roth released the following statement following arguments in today’s same-sex marriage hearing at the Supreme Court:

The years of anticipation from same-sex couples across the country, the line that began forming last week and the breathless news coverage this morning from rotating correspondents underscored that the eyes of the nation were squarely on the court today. If only more than a handful of Americans could have seen what went on inside the building.

The justices’ very act of keeping their supposedly ‘public’ proceedings private to all but roughly 200 pairs of eyes is embarrassing to the institution and quite insulting to the American people, thousands of whom have been waiting years for today’s case to be heard by the high court. As the justices continue to hear cases that are of great importance to our democracy, let’s hope in subsequent terms they heed the nation’s call for transparency and televise their hearings.