There’s panic in the streets of Salt Lake City! U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby has ruled that a 2004 Utah state constitutional amendment and two state laws banning same-sex marriage violate gay and lesbian couples’ 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection under the law. The state measures claimed to be “defense of marriage” provisions, but the state failed to show that same-sex marriages would affect opposite-sex marriages in any manner, according to the judge.
After Judge Shelby ruled, the office of the Salt Lake County Clerk began issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples. Utah’s Attorney General immediately applied for an emergency stay to halt this while he filed an appeal. Utah’s governor and the Mormon Church hope the ruling will be reversed on appeal. The church may be preoccupied with another recent court ruling that decriminalized plural marriage in Utah.
More:
“Federal judge strikes down Utah ban on same-sex marriage,” Brooke Adams, Salt Lake Tribune
“In Utah, judge’s ruling ignites same-sex marriage frenzy,” Tom Watkins, CNN
“Couples Flood Utah County Clerk Offices After Gay Marriage Ruling,” Courtney Subramanian, TIME.com
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Tags: Courts, GLBT, marriage, marriage equality, same-sex marriage, Utah
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