Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage was struck down by a federal judge, but gay marriages cannot begin quite yet. The ruling blocked them until appeals are heard.
“Gay and lesbian individuals share the same capacity as heterosexual individuals to form, preserve and celebrate loving, intimate and lasting relationships,” said the judge. “Such relationships are created through the exercise of sacred, personal choices — choices, like the choices made by every other citizen, that must be free from unwarranted government interference.”
Judges in Oklahoma and Utah also recently struck down similar bans. Virginia now joins the race to the Supreme Court. All three cases will go to federal appeals courts first.
In addition, Nevada state officials have decided they cannot defend the same-sex marriage ban there, and a judge told the state of Kentucky that the state must recognize gay marriages from other states.
All up 17 states and the District of Columbia now permit same-sex marriages with Hawaii and Illinois joining the race to the bottom by enacting new laws permitting them, while courts in New Jersey and New Mexico legalized them. There are now nearly four dozen lawsuits pending in 24 states.
The Supreme Court’s decision last year to nullify the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has opened the floodgates for same-sex marriage in the United States.
“Using unusually sweeping language, she concluded: ‘We have arrived upon another moment in history when “We the People” becomes more inclusive, and our freedom more perfect.’”
The Virginia ban was passed by voters in 2006, but this year the Democratic state attorney general announced that Virginia would stop defending its legal ban and actively work to overthrow it.
“This decision is a victory for the Constitution and for treating everyone equally under the law,” Herring said. “It is the latest step in a journey towards equality for all Virginians, no matter who they are or whom they love.”
Opponents of same-sex marriage, like the National Organization for Marriage, criticized the ruling.
“This is another example of an Obama-appointed judge twisting the Constitution and the rule of law to impose her own views of marriage in defiance of the people of Virginia,” said Brian Brown, the group’s president. “We hope that the U.S. Supreme Court ends up reversing this terrible decision.”
America has reached a tipping point and the gay marriage race to the moral bottom is on. It is only a matter of time before same-sex marriage will be recognized in all 50 states.
“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot… Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:28, 30