It was a big day for the gay and homosexual communities living in Alabama, a federal judge on Friday called the ban on same-sex marriages in the state as unconstitutional.
The Alabama Marriage Protection Act and an amendment, which places the legislation in the state’s constitution, were struck down by US District Judge Ginny Granade on Friday after the judge found any such legal hindrance that makes the gay marriages illegal is unconstitutional.
Granade passed the judgment while hearing a lawsuit filed by same-sex couple Kim McKeand and Cari Searcy. Both the women had sought before the court to allow their out-of-state marriage get legal recognition in Alabama so that they would enjoy the status of being legal parents of their 8-year-old child.
Searcy and McKeand tied the nuptial knot in 2008 in California and have afterwards shifted to Alabama in 2011.
Calling the ban on gay marriages in the state as unconstitutional, Granade said the action is violating the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the 14th Amendment.
Attorney General spokesman Mike Lewis said, “We are disappointed and are reviewing the Federal District Court’s decision. We expect to ask for a stay of the court’s judgment pending the outcome of the US Supreme Court’s ruling which will ultimately decide this case,”
The ruling by the federal court has made Alabama the 37th American state, including Washington, DC, to give constitutional status to same-sex marriages.
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