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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Angela Dallara | angela@freedomtomarry.org | 646.430.3925

Federal Judge in Colorado Rules Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

NEW YORK, NY

Yesterday U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore ruled that Colorado's discriminatory state ban excluding same-sex couples from the freedom to marry is unconstitutional.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, released the following statement:

"Judge Moore did the right thing today, faithfully upholding both the Constitution and Colorado values. This is the second court decision in favor of the freedom to marry just in Colorado -- and across the country, judge after judge, court after court, in state after state have all examined the evidence and sifted through the arguments and concluded that the denial of marriage to same-sex couples cannot stand. It's time for the state attorney general to stop spending taxpayer money to defend the indefensible and allow gay couples to wed now."

Same-sex couples can marry in 19 states and the District of Columbia, meaning 44% of Americans live in states where gay couples share in the freedom to marry. Recent polling by the Washington Post/ABC News shows 59% of Americans support marriage, including a majority of young evangelicals and Republicans under 45 in other polls.

In total, 27 rulings since last year's decision in U.S. v. Windsor have found that state bans on marriage for same-sex couples are unconstitutional, including two rulings by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Colorado.

Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Headed by Evan Wolfson, one of America's leading civil rights advocates and lawyers, Freedom to Marry brings new resources and a renewed context of urgency and opportunity to this social justice movement.