The 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected Virginia’s marriage ban, upholding a lower court ruling. This is the third appeals court ruling on same-sex marriage. The 10th Circuit threw out Oklahoma’s marriage ban earlier this month and that court did the same with Utah’s marriage ban earlier this year.
The Virginia ruling was a 2-1 decision.
“We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable. However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws,” the judges wrote in the majority opinion.
The winning attorneys in the case were David Boies and Ted Olson, who represented same-sex couples in California’s Prop 8 case decided by the Supreme Court last year.
“Today’s decision sends a message that everyone deserves the dignity and protection that only comes with marriage,” said ACLU’s James Esseks.
“This news is thrilling,” Lambda Legal’s Greg Nevins said. “We argued that barring Virginia same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional and harms families and the court agreed. With this ruling, all of Virginia’s same-sex couples are one step closer to the freedom to marry.”
This ruling may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. More on the ruling from The Washington Post.
