Federal Judge upholds Puerto Rico's Gay Marriage Ban

Oh man...

U.S. District Judge Perez Gimenez dismissed a challenge to the gay marriage ban in Puerto Rico.

Citing Baker v. Nelson and the First Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) a judge in Puerto Rico has dismissed a challenge to its same-sex marriage ban.

In that DOMA case, Massachusetts v. HHS, the First Circuit had said that Baker v. Nelson is binding precedent on the issue of whether there’s a right to same-sex marriage; they then found that Baker didn’t prevent them from ruling on DOMA, which didn’t involve the states’ regulation of marriage.

The Puerto Rico case can be appealed to the First Circuit, which hasn’t had an opportunity to review challenges to same-sex marriage bans since all the states in that circuit allow same-sex marriage.

Lambda Legal said they will appeal this foolishness. Until then, stay strong folks, change is coming.

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