{"id":624,"date":"2014-01-16T19:58:49","date_gmt":"2014-01-16T19:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/?p=624"},"modified":"2017-01-07T19:12:35","modified_gmt":"2017-01-07T19:12:35","slug":"oklahoma-judges-marriage-ruling-demolishes-every-argument-anti-gay-right-uses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/?p=624","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma Judge\u2019s Marriage Ruling Demolishes Anti-Gay Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"

by David Badash on January 15, 2014
\nin Marriage,News<\/em><\/p>\n

The last thing most people want to do is read a court ruling. They\u2019re tiresome, filled with legal jargon, footnotes, and all sorts of oddities.<\/p>\n

So I did.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, United States District Judge Terence C. Kern ruled that Oklahoma\u2019s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional because it \u201cviolates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution\u201d \u2014 another huge win for marriage equality.<\/p>\n

(We should note he stayed his ruling upon appeal, so Oklahoma same-sex couples can\u2019t marry yet.)<\/p>\n

And Judge Kern took a sledge hammer to every argument the anti-gay and religious right is using to prevent same-ex couples from marrying.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually so affirming of the rights of same-sex couples it may make you glow for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n

The Judge notes that Oklahoma\u2019s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage \u201cintentionally discriminates.\u201d<\/p>\n

He labeled Oklahoma\u2019s ban \u201ca classic, class-based equal protection case,\u201d and cited numerous press releases noting animus as the reason the law was passed, like this:<\/p>\n

State Representative Bill Graves said, \u201c\u2018This is a Bible Belt state . . . . Most people don\u2019t want that sort of thing here. . . . Gay people might call it discrimination, but I call it upholding morality.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And he effectively slammed every so-called \u201cpro-family\u201d anti-gay group, every evangelical and every Christian organization\u2019s arguments against marriage equality.<\/p>\n

The Court recognizes that moral disapproval often stems from deeply held religious convictions\u2026 However, moral disapproval of homosexuals as a class, or same-sex marriage as a practice, is not a permissible justification for a law.<\/p>\n

But wait \u2014 it gets better!<\/p>\n

Judge Kern writes \u201cthere is no rational link between excluding same-sex couples from marriage and the goals of encouraging \u2018responsible procreation\u2019 among the \u2018naturally procreative\u2019 and\/or steering the \u2018naturally procreative\u2019 toward marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Permitting same-sex couples to receive a marriage license does not harm, erode, or somehow water-down the \u201cprocreative\u201d origins of the marriage institution, any more than marriages of couples who cannot \u201cnaturally procreate\u201d or do not ever wish to \u201cnaturally procreate.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then, bingo!<\/p>\n

If a same-sex couple is capable of having a child with or without a marriage relationship, and the articulated state goal is to reduce children born outside of a marital relationship, the challenged exclusion hinders rather than promotes that goal.<\/p>\n

Kern keeps on hitting it out of the ballpark, exploding the so-called \u201cevery child deserves a mom and a dad\u201d claim groups like NOM and the Family Research Council use.<\/p>\n

He writes \u201cthe Court cannot discern, a single way that excluding same-sex couples from marriage will \u2018promote\u2019 this \u2018ideal\u2019 child-rearing environment. Exclusion from marriage does not make it more likely that a same-sex couple desiring children, or already raising children together, will change course and marry an opposite-sex partner\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Court concludes that denial of same-sex couples from marriage \u201cdoes nothing to promote stability in heterosexual parenting.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n

Excluding same-sex couples from marriage has done little to keep Oklahoma families together thus far, as Oklahoma consistently has one of the highest divorce rates in the country.<\/p>\n

And then, finally, this:<\/p>\n

\u201cExclusion of just one class of citizens from receiving a marriage license based upon the perceived \u2018threat\u2019 they pose to the marital institution is, at bottom, an arbitrary exclusion based upon the majority\u2019s disapproval of the defined class. It is also insulting to same-sex couples, who are human beings capable of forming loving, committed, enduring relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, doesn\u2019t that feel good?
\nDavid Badash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by David Badash on January 15, 2014 in Marriage,News The last thing most people want to do is read a court ruling. They\u2019re tiresome, filled with legal jargon, footnotes, and all sorts of oddities. So I did. Yesterday, United States … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-joly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=624"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1573,"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624\/revisions\/1573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arts-attic.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}