When the Supreme Court of the United States comes back into session next Monday, it is highly likely that the high court will decide the fate of same-sex marriage.

There have been more than 80 lawsuits filed in the past 12 months, many finding voice after the Supreme Court struck down a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act in the Edie Windsor case. This groundswell of activity, however, is being held hostage by the lack of a nationally binding decision by the high court.

According to Miranda Leitsinger of NBC News, “The justices, who will meet in a closed-door conference on Monday, will consider whether to hear any of three same-sex marriage lawsuits during the next term, which officially starts Oct. 6. If they decide to review one or more of the cases, a ruling could be reached by July on whether same-sex marriage must be allowed nationwide. If they choose not to hear the cases, the decision would allow gay nuptials in the ten states covered by the three lawsuits. The court could also wait for a circuit court to disagree with the others and support the state bans. The justice have until January 2015 to make their decision.”

Leitsinger quoted Austin Nimocks, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom. “Litigators on both sides of this issue have known from the beginning and understood that this is headed back to the Supreme Court. We’re now approaching the ultimate theater where everybody expects this to be ultimately decided, at least from a judicial standpoint.”

“Given the huge flood of cases coming up through the lower courts, they can’t responsibly decline to hear this,” Andrew Koppelman, a professor of law and political science at Northwestern University and author of “Same Sex, Different States: When Same-Sex Marriages Cross State Lines.” told Leitsinger.

“Because of the unprecedented speed at which the courts are almost unanimously striking down these laws, I think we are at a watershed moment in American history and everybody anticipates that this will be resolved by the Supreme Court,” noted Paul Castillo, counsel for Lambda Legal in the Indiana and Virginia marriage cases, according to Leitsinger. “I think what the Supreme Court is looking for is a case that presents the issue so that they would be able to get straight to the heart of the matter,” Castillo said.”