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Appeals court rules Virginia same-sex marriage ban invalid

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Appeals court rules Virginia same-sex marriage ban invalid

A federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia handed a significant legal victory to gay and lesbian couples seeking equal marriage rights and benefits on Monday by declaring that state's laws banning same-sex marriage invalid.

In a 2-1 opinion issued Monday afternoon, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's prior ruling overturning a 2006 amendment to Virginia's state constitution — as well as several state statutes — prohibiting same-sex marriage, on the grounds that the laws unfairly deprive gay and lesbian couples of their equal protection and due process rights under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“Civil marriage is one of the cornerstones of our way of life. It allows individuals to celebrate and publicly declare their intentions to form lifelong partnerships, which provide unparalleled intimacy, companionship, emotional support, and security,” Judge Henry Floyd said in the court's majority opinion. “Denying same-sex couples this choice prohibits them from participating fully in our society, which is precisely the type of segregation that the 14th Amendment cannot countenance.”

The court's ruling may foreshadow the fates of similar gay marriage bans in the 4th Circuit's other states, including West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Each of those states is defending its anti-gay marriage laws in U.S. District Courts, but those lawsuits were all postponed until the 4th Circuit issued its ruling in the Virginia case.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, who withdrew the state's defense of the marriage ban in January, said in a statement issued Monday afternoon that he was proud of his state for “leading on one of the most important civil rights issues of our day.”

“These fellow Virginians are asking the Commonwealth to convey to them the same rights and responsibilities that every other couple enjoys,” Mr. Herring said. “They are asking to be treated equally, and if our Constitution guarantees anything, surely it is that.”

Similarly, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said he was “overjoyed” at the news of the 4th Circuit's decision.

“Progress does not always come as quickly as we hope it will, but today is yet another example of how justice, equality and the people who fight for those values will always persevere in the end,” Gov. McAuliffe said.

Monday's ruling in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage marks the second such decision from a federal appeals court in the last several weeks. A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado ruled earlier this summer against state officials in Utah and Oklahoma seeking to preserve those states' laws prohibiting same-sex marriage.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2013 ruling in U.S. v. Windsor — which invalidated provisions of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman — state and federal district judges in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Texas, Idaho, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Florida and Colorado have struck down those states' bans on same-sex marriage in their entirety, while bans in Ohio and Tennessee have been partially overturned.

Appeals to U.S. District Court rulings in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in Texas, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Nevada and Idaho are also underway in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th circuits.

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