Utah same sex marriage ban struck down

Okay, got to admit, didn't predict a same sex marriage ban being struck down in Utah of all places. Case faces appeal and, presumably, the higher courts in Utah are likely stacked with conservative appointees but this made me happy.

Updated 4:46 p.m.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A federal judge struck down Utah's same-sex marriage ban Friday in a decision that brings a nationwide shift toward allowing gay marriage to a conservative state where the Mormon church has long been against it.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby issued a 53-page ruling Friday saying Utah's law passed by voters in 2004 violates gay and lesbian couples' rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

Shelby said the state failed to show that allowing same-sex marriages would affect opposite-sex marriages in any way.

"In the absence of such evidence, the State's unsupported fears and speculations are insufficient to justify the State's refusal to dignify the family relationships of its gay and lesbian citizens," Shelby wrote.

It was unclear what the immediate effect would be, because the state can still appeal. The Utah attorney general's office said it would issue a statement on the ruling later.

The ruling comes the same week New Mexico's highest court legalized gay marriage after declaring it unconstitutional to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples. A new law passed in Hawaii last month now allows gay couples to marry there.

The ruling is the first on a state same-sex marriage ban since the Supreme Court last summer struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, which stipulated that marriage was between a man and woman.

During a nearly four-hour hearing earlier this month in Salt Lake City, attorneys for the state argued that Utah's law promotes the state's interest in "responsible procreation" and the "optimal mode of child-rearing." They also asserted it's not the courts' role to determine how a state defines marriage, and that the Supreme Court ruling doesn't give same-sex couples the universal right to marry.

The lawsuit was brought by three gay and lesbian couples in Utah. One of the couples was legally married in Iowa and just wants that license recognized in Utah.

Many similar court challenges are pending in other states, but Utah's has been closely watched because of the state's history of staunch opposition to gay marriage as the home of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Peggy Tomsic, the attorney who represents the three couples, applauded Shelby's courage in making the ruling.

"We cannot capture in words the gratitude and joy plaintiffs feel," Tomsic said in a statement.

But she warned that the legal fight is not over, saying she expects the state to appeal the decision to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

During this month's hearing, Tomsic contended marriage is a fundamental right protected by the U.S. Constitution. She said the case embodies the civil rights movement of our time, saying discrimination has gone on long enough.

She said Utah's law, which passed with two-thirds of the vote, is "based on prejudice and bias that is religiously grounded in this state."

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

My god, the gayness is spreading.

lawl

oh, it's via the courts. That makes more sense. Otherwise I'd be surprised

This is just too delicious. Now gay couples have been married in Utah, so for the state to reintroduce a ban, they'd have to address nulling all those marriages--a legal clusterfuck in and of itself.

The Mormons can suck it--literally now!

New Mexico yesterday and Utah today, awesome sauce, too bad these states will forever wear the shame of having the courts twist their nipple into submission

It's a shame the courts have to step in at all. The civil rights of a minority group should never be determined by a popular vote, such a thing is completely un-American. The is a Democratic Republic, not a simple minded mob rules Democracy.

good, more signs of old people dying off.

jk :)

The dinosaurs will not win the 21st century.

Forced or not, this is a step in the right direction for my homestate. Although a good chunk of my Mormon family will not take this well.

I always thought if there were was ever going to be the last and final state to be overturned (if ever), it would be Utah :/

I actually live in Utah, and the high school I went to was very left wing, very non-religious, and very accepting of gay people. But it was a charter school though.