UPDATED: 6th Circuit Court Of Appeals Rules States Can Ban Same-Sex Marriage

The first U.S. Court of Appeals to break a long winning streak has ruled that the State of Michigan can ban same-sex marriage.

In a continuation of conservative values slamming Americans this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit just ruled that states can in fact ban same-sex marriage.

The ruling, while not unexpected, is still stunning.

In a cautionary warning that clearly does not understand history, the Court claimed “the people,” and not lawyers or judges, should be allowed “resolve new social issues like this one.”

When the courts do not let the people resolve new social issues like this one, they perpetuate the idea that the heroes in these change events are judges and lawyers. Better in this instance, we think, to allow change through the customary political processes, in which the people, gay and straight alike, become the heroes of their own stories by meeting each other not as adversaries in a court system but as fellow citizens seeking to resolve a new social issue in a fair-minded way.

The ruling is above. It applies to Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.

This clearly sets up a constitutional challenge that will force the Supreme Court to intercede.

UPDATE I – 5:00 PM EST:

Via Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade:

The majority decision was written by U.S. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton, an appointee of George W. Bush who was seen as the panel’s swing vote on marriage. 

Sutton was joined in the decision by U.S. Circuit Judge Deborah Cook, another appointee of George W. Bush. Writing the dissent in the case was U.S. Circuit Judge Martha Daughtrey, a Clinton appointee who accuses the majority of refusing to take up its responsibility to guard the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens.

UPDATE II – 6:01 PM EST:

Dissenting 6th Circuit Judge: Anti-Gay Marriage Ruling ‘Fails’ On ‘Constitutional Question’

EDITOR’S NOTE:
The New Civil Rights Movement is proud to have been one of the first news outlets to cover the Michigan Case, Deboer v. Snyder. 

You can read our first story about the couple who became plaintiffs in the 6th Circuit case: “Mother’s Day On Our Radar – Lesbian Supermoms Take On Family Equality.“

For more on this family and the case, see a few of our many articles:

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Tells Lesbian Couple And Their Three Children: You Are Not A Family

Two Moms Remind Us, Though DOMA Is Dead, We Have Not Yet Finished Our Fight For Equality

Couple Who Brought Same-Sex Marriage To Michigan Won’t Marry — Yet

Breaking: Listen Here – Audio Of All Six Marriage Cases In 6th Circuit Court Released

6th Circuit Judge: ‘Sky Hasn’t Fallen’ In A Decade Of Same-Sex Marriage

As Regnerus Testifies Against Marriage In Court, His University Denounces His Research

Judge Rules Lesbian Couple Can Challenge Michigan’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban – Cites Supreme Court’s DOMA Decision

 

 

This post will not be updated further. Please visit our front page for additional articles on this story.

This is a developing story – stay tuned for more details.

 

Hat tip: Buzzfeed