OkEq requests Judge strike Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage

(Tulsa Oklahoma) Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq) respectfully requests that Northern District of Oklahoma Judge Terence Kern rule in plaintiffs’ favor in the Oklahoma marriage equality lawsuit, Bishop versus USA, and strike down Oklahoma’s ban on same sex marriage.

Mike Redman, Director of Advocacy for Oklahomans for Equality said, “This past weekend certainly has been encouraging to advocates, allies, and supporters of marriage equality in Oklahoma. On December 20, 2013, the United States District Court in Utah held that Utah’s voter approved state constitutional ban on same sex marriage violated the United States Constitution. Utah became the eighteenth state to recognize same sex marriages.The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by the State of Utah for a temporary injunction of that decision pending the State’s appeal. 

The Utah decision is especially significant to the lawsuit currently under consideration by the federal court here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Utah’s voter approved Constitutional amendment is virtually identical to the voter approved constitutional amendment enacted in Oklahoma. The arguments and authorities presented in that lawsuit are virtually the same as those presented here. Finally, decisions by federal judges in Oklahoma also are appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. While the decision in Utah is not controlling on the district court in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it certainly provides persuasive arguments for the court to consider. The current lawsuit for marriage equality was brought by Mary Bishop, Sharon Baldwin, Sue Barton, and Gay Phillips and has been pending since 2004.”