Federal Judge Rules Utah Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

A federal judge in Utah has struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriages saying the law “conflicts with the United States Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process under the law.”

In striking down the state law, which voters approved in 2004, the judge ruled the state is denying “its gay and lesbian citizens their fundamental right to marry and, in so doing, demean(s) the dignity of these same-sex couples for no rational reason.”