Judge's opinion in the Oklahoma same-sex marriage case

Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin, along with another lesbian couple, were the plaintiffs in Bishop v. Oklahoma, challenging the constitutionality of the Oklahoma ban on same-sex marriage.

On Tuesday, January 14, 2014, Federal District Judge Terence Kern ruled that Oklahoma's ban on same-sex marriage violates the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. The amendment to the Oklahoma constitution was passed in November, 2004, by an overwhelming majority of voters.

Judge Kern stayed his order, pending appeal by the state. Oklahoma is in the same Federal Circuit district that includes Utah, so both the Utah case overturning Utah's ban, and the Oklahoma case, will be heard by the same court.

In the meantime, same-sex couples still cannot marry in Oklahoma.

Read Judge Kern's decision in the case, Bishop v. Oklahoma, at this link:

http://www.oknd.uscourts.gov/docs/d50f87b8-eebd-49bf-a18a-cc6e8acda53e/04cv848.pdf

The Gayly - January 14, 2014 @ 9:40pm