DENVER (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled for the first
time Wednesday that gay couples have a constitutional right to marry,
extending the movement’s legal winning streak and bringing the issue a
big step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The three-judge panel
in Denver ruled 2-1 that states cannot deprive people of the fundamental
right to marry simply because they choose a partner of the same sex.
The court dismissed as "wholly illogical" the notion that allowing gays to wed could somehow
undermine traditional marriage.
The
decision by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld a
lower-court ruling that struck down Utah’s gay marriage ban. It becomes
law in the six states covered by the 10th Circuit: Colorado, Kansas, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. But the panel immediately put the
ruling on hold pending an appeal.
The Utah attorney general’s
office planned to appeal, but it was assessing whether to go directly to
the U.S. Supreme Court or ask the entire 10th Circuit to review the
ruling, spokeswoman Missy Larsen said.
Wednesday’s decision "takes us one step closer to reaching certainty and finality," the office
said in a statement.
After
the ruling, the couples named in the appeal hugged, cried and exchanged
kisses at a news conference outside their attorney’s offices in
downtown Salt Lake City.
"This decision is an absolute victory for
fairness and equality for all families in Utah, in every state in the
10th Circuit and every state in this great nation of the United States,"
said their attorney, Peggy Tomsic.
Plaintiff Derek Kitchen said he and his partner, Moudi Sbeity, are "so proud to be a part of
history."
The
decision gives increased momentum to a legal cause that already has
compiled an impressive record in the lower courts after the Supreme
Court last year struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Since
then, 16 federal and state judges have issued rulings siding with gay
marriage advocates.
The latest of those rulings was in Indiana,
where a federal judge threw out that state’s same-sex marriage ban
Wednesday in a decision that immediately allows gay couples to wed. The
Indiana and Utah rulings came just one day ahead of the anniversary of
the landmark Supreme Court decision striking down part of a federal
anti-gay marriage law.
The Utah ruling was especially significant
because it was the first appellate court to conclude that last year’s
Supreme Court decision means states cannot deny gays the ability to
marry.
In 2012, an appellate court struck down California’s gay
marriage ban but said it was only ruling on that law, not the broader
constitutional questions. There were no such caveats in Wednesday’s
65-page decision.
Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry,
said Utah’s legal victory was sweeter because of where it originated — a
conservative, deeply religious state in the heart of the mountain West.
"What
is so powerful here is that we have the first federal appellate court
and … it’s a case coming out of Utah affirming in the strongest,
clearest, boldest terms that the Constitution guarantees the freedom to
marry and equal protection for all Americans and all means all,
including gay couples," he said.
Within hours of the Utah
decision, the Boulder County, Colorado, clerk announced that she would
issue marriage licenses to gay couples because Colorado’s gay marriage
ban would be voided if the decision stands.
The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Salt Lake City, said on its
website that it maintains marriage should be between a man and a woman,
but believes "all people should be treated with respect."
In his
dissent, Justice Paul J. Kelly Jr. said the 10th Circuit overstepped its
authority and that states should be able to decide who can marry.
"We
should resist the temptation to become philosopher-kings, imposing our
views under the guise of the 14th Amendment," Kelly wrote.
More
than 1,000 same-sex couples in Utah wed in December after the initial
ruling in the case, before the Supreme Court issued a stay. Along with
the Utah case, the 10th Circuit panel considered a challenge to
Oklahoma’s ban. It did not immediately rule in that case Wednesday.
"While
judges can, by judicial fiat, declare same-sex ‘marriage’ legal, they
will never be able to make it right," said Tony Perkins, president of
the Family Research Council. "The courts, for all their power, can’t
overturn natural law."
Though the Utah and Oklahoma cases have
been closely watched, it’s unclear if one of them will be the first to
reach the Supreme Court. The high court could choose from cases moving
through five other federal appellate courts and wouldn’t consider a case
until next year at the earliest.
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Online:
Ruling from
10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/13/13-4178.pdf
.
___
McCombs reported from Salt Lake City.
___
Associated
Press writers Michelle Price in Salt Lake City, Lisa Leff in San
Francisco and Kristi Eaton in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.