Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Last month a federal court upheld Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage. Yet today a state judge struck down the ban as unconstitutional.
Judge Edward Rubin of the 15th Judicial District Court in Louisiana ruled that state law prohibiting same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, violating the due process and equal protection clauses of 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as the full faith and credit clause. The news comes weeks after District Judge Martin Feldman upheld the Louisiana Constitution’s ban on same-sex marriage in an error-riddled decision. Feldman’s decision was a sudden monkey wrench following 21 consecutive federal rulings against banning gay marriage, a previously unbroken streak since the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013.
So now what? Anything?
UPDATE: Details from Freedom To Marry.
The case, In Re Costanza and Brewer, was filed in 2013 on behalf of Angela Marie Costanza and Chastity Shanelle Brewer, who are raising their 10-year-old son in Lafayette. The case sought respect for Angela and Chastity’s marriage license; since Louisiana did not respect their marriage, one mother was not permitted to legally adopt her son. The ruling today grants the second-parent adoption and affirms that the Louisiana amendment violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.
UPDATE II: Buzzfeed reporter Chris Geidner is putting cautionary brakes on this story.
REPORTERS AND ORGS: Why don’t you wait for the opinion before you put out your stories and graphics? Ugh.
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) September 22, 2014
yes, @AFER and @freedomtomarry, I’m looking at you.
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) September 22, 2014