Another victory for marriage equality

Last week offered an opportunity to revising a topic I hadn't written about since A song for marriage equality in Michigan.  Last Tuesday, I included the following story from Reuters in a comment to another diarist's Overnight News Digest, along with the rest of the day's top U.S. news, including the story that formed the core of Update on Detroit water shut-offs and bankruptcy.

U.S. appeals court challenges states on gay marriage bans
By Fiona Ortiz
CHICAGO Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:38pm EDT

(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court in Chicago appeared ready to strike down gay marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin after vigorously challenging the two states' attorneys at a hearing on Tuesday.

The oral arguments before a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals come at a crucial stage in the legal fight over same-sex marriage as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to take up the issue in its next term.

At the U.S. appeals court level, judges have struck down similar bans on gay marriage in Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia.

Ortiz got it right, as Vox reported Thursday in An appeals court struck down same-sex marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday struck down same-sex marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana, upholding previous rulings from lower courts.

The unanimous decision, written by US Circuit Judge Richard Posner, cited the Constitution's Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. It continues a number of legal victories for same-sex couples following the US Supreme Court ruling that ended the federal ban on same-sex marriage.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that it won't take effect immediately.  Just like the ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in Michigan, it's going to have to go through the appeals process and will likely end up in front of the Supreme Court.  In the meantime, Professor Farnsworth and I approve of this step toward healing.