Judge rules Missouri's ban on same sex marriage unconstitutional

More than 30 states now permit same sex couples to marry, and on Wednesday Missouri joined their ranks after a St. Louis circuit judge's ruling that the state's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. 

|
Whitney Curti/Reuters
April Breeden (l.) embraces her wife, Crystal Peairs, at City Hall in St. Louis, Missouri November 5, 2014. Missouri's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, a St. Louis circuit judge ruled Wednesday, adding momentum to efforts in states across the country to legalize gay nuptials.

Missouri's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, a St. Louis circuit judge ruled on Wednesday, adding momentum to efforts in states across the country to legalize gay nuptials.

The decision comes a day after a federal judge ruled that neighboring Kansas also was violating the U.S. Constitution by refusing to allow same-sex marriages. More than 30 U.S. states permit same-sex couples to marry.

"Marriage equality is now the law of the land in the state of Missouri," said Winston Calvert, the city attorney for St. Louis, who argued against the state's same-sex marriage ban. "This decision finally enforces that constitutional guarantee of equality for gay and lesbian couples."

In his ruling, St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison said that "the freedom to marry is a fundamental right and liberty deeply rooted in the history of the United States." He found that the state ban on same-sex marriage was not tied to a "legitimate government interest."

Missouri officials were attempting to uphold the state ban on same-sex marriages after St. Louis issued marriage licenses in June to four same-sex couples.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said the state was appealing the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court. But, Koster said, he was not seeking a stay of Burlison's ruling.

Marc Solomon, national campaign director for the Freedom to Marry advocacy group, applauded the ruling.

"As Missourians get to know married same-sex couples and their families, they will see clearly that their marriages are based on love, commitment and an interest in caring for their families," he said.

"Today's ruling adds to the powerful momentum of victories from a bipartisan array of federal and state judges as we work to secure the freedom to marry nationwide," Solomon said.

In the Kansas case, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday stopping Kansas from enforcing its ban on gay marriage and put the ruling on hold until Nov. 11 to giveKansas an opportunity to appeal.

Same-sex marriage has become legal in more than a dozen states since the U.S. Supreme Court said on Oct. 6 that it would not review recent U.S. appeals court decisions striking down state bans.

The number of states in which same-sex marriages may be performed jumped to 32 from 19 after the U.S. Supreme Court's announcement.

Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City, Mo.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Judge rules Missouri's ban on same sex marriage unconstitutional
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/1105/Judge-rules-Missouri-s-ban-on-same-sex-marriage-unconstitutional
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe