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Same-sex marriage bans in Idaho, Nevada ruled unconstitutional

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Same-sex marriage bans in Idaho, Nevada ruled unconstitutional

A federal appeals court has dealt yet another blow to same-sex marriage opponents by ruling in favor of gay and lesbian couples seeking equal marriage rights in Idaho and Nevada.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Tuesday unanimously declared that the two states' separate voter-approved bans on same-sex marriage violate gay and lesbian couples' rights to equal protection under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by unjustifiably denying them the same state-level rights and benefits provided to opposite-sex couples.

“Idaho and Nevada's marriage laws, by preventing same-sex couples from marrying and refusing to recognize same-sex marriages celebrated elsewhere, impose profound legal, financial, social and psychic harms on numerous citizens of those states,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the court's 34-page opinion, concluding that “because defendants have failed to demonstrate that these laws further any legitimate purpose, they unjustifiably discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, and are in violation of the equal protection clause.”

The panel's ruling effectively sets in motion the legalization of same-sex marriage in Nevada and Idaho, which will bring the total number of states where gay and lesbian couples are afforded full marriage rights and benefits to 27 once the court's decision is implemented.

In a statement issued late Tuesday afternoon, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto — who along with Gov. Brian Sandoval abandoned the state's defense of its anti-gay marriage law in February — said her office was “encouraged” by the court's decision, but reminded the state's county clerks and residents that same-sex marriage has not yet technically been legalized.

“The parties have 14 days to seek reconsideration or seek a stay to file an appeal with the United State Supreme Court,” Ms. Masto said in her statement. “County clerks should work with their respective district attorneys on the appropriate course of action.”

Conversely, Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said in a statement released Tuesday that the court's ruling was “disappointing, but not unexpected.”

The ruling was issued one day after the U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions for hearings during its upcoming term from five other states — Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana — seeking to overturn previous rulings handed down by appellate judges in the 4th, 7th and 10th circuits legalizing same-sex marriage.

Absent further review by the Supreme Court, the circuit courts' rulings will likely be treated as the controlling judicial standard in federal lawsuits challenging same-sex marriage bans in other states within the relevant circuits, including Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Wyoming, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

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