A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled Tuesday that the state’s constitutional amendment barring same sex marriages violated the federal Constitution, the latest in a string of legal victories for gay rights and one that occurred in the heart of the Bible Belt.

The state’s ban on marriage by gay and lesbian couples is “an arbitrary, irrational exclusion of just one class of Oklahoma citizens from a governmental benefit,” wrote Judge Terence C. Kern of United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, in Tulsa, deciding a case that had languished for nine years. The amendment, he said, is based on “moral disapproval” and does not advance the state’s asserted interests in promoting heterosexual marriage or the welfare of children.

http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/u.s.-district-judge-rules-oklahoma-ban-on-marriage-equality-unconstitutiona

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/federal-judge-rejects-oklahomas-gay-marriage-ban.html?hp&_r=0

The District Court judge stayed (put on hold) his order pending appeal so no gay marriages in Oklahoma until his decision is affirmed by a Court of Appeals. Given the Supreme Court's intervention to stay a similar Utah decision until the issues have been fully considered, the Oklahoma judge acted properly in delaying implementation of his order.

This is great! I hope I can get married in Oklahoma too. There are so many choices that it complicates my wedding plan. But it's good thing that I have a lot of choices..

This is great! I hope I can get married in Oklahoma too. There are so many choices that it complicates my wedding plan. But it's good thing that I have a lot of choices..

Hito - how often do we have to remind you....... you have to find a groom first.

lol