District Court Rules Fed Ban on Gay Marriage Unconstitutional

I’m certain that conservatives, who have long argued that states’ rights trump civil liberties, will be quick to applaud this ruling:

U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro on Thursday ruled in favor of gay couples’ rights in two separate challenges to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.

The state had argued the law denied benefits such as Medicaid to gay married couples in Massachusetts, where same-sex unions have been legal since 2004.

Tauro agreed, and said the act forces Massachusetts to discriminate against its own citizens.

The Justice Department argued the federal government has the right to set eligibility requirements for federal benefits – including requiring that those benefits only go to couples in marriages between a man and a woman.

Meanwhile, Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s wack-job AG, is discovering novel ways to get around antiquated hippie concepts like “equal protection”:

Marriages that take place outside of Virginia are not valid in the Commonwealth, even if the couple has obtained a legal Virginia marriage license and the ceremony is performed by a person authorized to do so in Virginia.

That’s according to a legal opinion issued by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) in May in response to a question from the clerk of the Prince William County [in Virginia] court regarding a couple whose marriage ceremony took place in Bethesda [in Maryland]….

In the case of the marriage decision, Cuccinelli noted Virginia couples who wish to get married out of state have a variety of options at their disposal, including having a separate, brief, solemnization ceremony in Virginia in addition to an out-of-state event.

See, even the marriages of straight Virginians don’t count if they tie the knot in some  unGodly hellhole like Massachusetts.

Update: for more on the ruling, check out Candace Chellew-Hodge’s post over at Religion Dispatches.