The Seventh Circuit ruled today that Indiana's and Wisconsin's bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, the Associated Press reports. Judge Richard Posner, writing for the court, opined that “'the challenged laws discriminate against a minority defined by an immutable characteristic, and the only rationale that the states put forth with any conviction — that same-sex couples and their children don’t need marriage because same-sex couples can’t produce children, intended or unintended — is so full of holes that it cannot be taken seriously,'” the Wisconsin Gazette reports.
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, who sits in Louisiana, became the first judge to rule that a state-level ban on same-sex marriage was constitutional, the AP also reports. According to the news wire, Feldman opined that "gay marriage supporters failed to prove that the ban violates equal protection or due process provisions of the Constitution. He also rejected an argument that the ban violated the First Amendment by effectively forcing legally married gay couples to state that they are single on Louisiana income tax returns. Furthermore, states have the right to define the institution of marriage, Feldman wrote."
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