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The revelation comes after two days of historic oral arguments challenging a California voter-approved measure banning same-sex marriage and a challenge to a federal law defining marriage as between a man and woman.
"After hearing hours worth of oral arguments on this, something awoke inside me and I realized that I'm gay, and I think I always have been," Scalia, a President Ronald M. Reagan appointee, said in an exclusive interview with TheYellowDailyNews.
High court scholars said it was the first time a Supreme Court justice announced he was gay.
The announcement from the 77-year-old justice sent shockwaves across the nation. The development confirmed what many court watchers had always suspected while other legal analysts suggested that, without Scalia, the high court could end up in a 4-4 tie and not set a nationwide precedent.
"The irony here is that Scalia's newfound gayness could be a step backward for gay and lesbian rights," said Regina Lestermeister, a plaintiff in the California case, in an exclusive interview with TheYellowDailyNews.
The justice's wife, Maureen Scalia, said she, too, suspected her husband of 53 years was gay all along.
She declined further comment when contacted by TheYellowDailyNews for an exclusive interview.
