Gay Marriage Now Legal in Pennsylvania

A federal judge on Tuesday struck down Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban, one day after a judge in Oregon did the same.

“We now join the twelve federal district courts across the country which, when confronted with these inequities in their own states, have concluded that all couples deserve equal dignity in the realm of civil marriage,” U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III writes in his decision.

Pennsylvania’s law, passed in 1996 by Republican Gov. Tom Ridge, defined marriage as "a civil contract by which one man and one woman take each other for husband and wife.” Jones reportedly found the ban violates both the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment after 11 gay and lesbian couples came together to challenge the court on their right to marry. Read more...