Good morning, Chicago. I recall in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled that, based on the Constitution, same-sex couples have the same right to marry as heterosexual couples. I was caught by surprise, joyfully so. When the justices on Monday declined to hear a case asking that the 2015 ruling be overturned, I again was caught by surprise — this time because I was bracing for the worst.

As the Tribune Editorial Board writes today, “It’s nice to start off the week with some good news.” The board notes that “civil law is not the same as religious law, and if you want the government to protect your right to live according to your faith, you must protect others’ rights to live according to theirs.”

In its other editorial, the board again makes the case as to why Mayor Brandon Johnson’s pursuit of a head tax to help fill the sizable hole in Chicago’s budget would wreak much more havoc than good.

In Tribune Opinion, beloved Chicago journalist Bill Kurtis honors Veterans Day (as do some of our letter writers) by focusing on the debt we owe veterans who are suffering as a result of their service to the country. Amateur historian Michael Peregine revisits the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald with the passing of its 50th anniversary, and our foreign affairs columnist Daniel DePetris examines the drug cartel violence that continues to plague Mexico, with a mayor in western Mexico the latest casualty.

Stay warm and safe. We’ll see you tomorrow.

— Colleen Kujawa, opinion editor

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