Fri. February 14, 2014
Norfolk VA -
In a ruling which is the second coup for the South this week, U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen late Thursday issued a sweeping 41-page opinion that strikes down the Virginia voter approved 2006 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. A judge in Kentucky ruled Wednesday that the state must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. However, it did not rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriages inside the state as the Virginia ruling has.
Judge Wright Allen also issued a stay of her order while it is appealed, meaning that gay couples in Virginia will still not be able to marry until the case is ultimately resolved. It is believed that the case won't be settled until the Supreme Court decides to hear cases already pending from court decisions in Utah and Oklahoma.
In her opinion, Wright Allen wrote: "The court is compelled to conclude that Virginia's Marriage Laws unconstitutionally deny Virginia's gay and lesbian citizens the fundamental freedom to choose to marry. Government interests in perpetuating traditions, shielding state matters from federal interference, and favoring one model of parenting over others must yield to this country's cherished protections that ensure the exercise of the private choices of the individual citizen regarding love and family."
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