Judge rules Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional

A federal magistrate judge has ruled that Idaho's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Magistrate Judge Candy Dale wrote in the ruling Tuesday evening that Idaho's laws banning same-sex marriage unconstitutionally deny gay and lesbian citizens of their fundamental right to marry.

Dale says the state must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples starting at 9 a.m. Friday.

On Tuesday, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, a Republican incumbent running for re-election, said he intends to appeal the ruling which means an appellate court could still put the weddings on hold.

Dale’s ruling said marriage works a fundamental change on the lives of all who experience it, and holds immense personal and spiritual significance. She said Idaho's laws wrongly stigmatize gay and lesbian couples and relegate their families to second-class status without sufficient reason.

Four Idaho couples filed their lawsuit in November against the governor and Ada County Clerk Christopher Rich, saying Idaho discriminates against gays and lesbians by subjecting them to different tax rules and denying them rights given to heterosexual families. Their attorney, Deborah Ferguson of Boise, said the sole purpose of Idaho's 2006 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage was to subject same-sex couples to stigma and shame.

"Ten out of 10 federal district courts which have considered challenges to their states' same-sex marriage bans have found them to be unconstitutional, and likewise we are here to ask this court to do the same," Ferguson said.

Otter says states have the right to define marriage as they see fit. He contends that the same-sex marriage ban is vital to Idaho's goal of creating "stable, husband-wife unions for the benefit of their children."

The case comes down to a matter of states' choice and states' authority, said Thomas Perry, Otter's attorney.

The law influences people's behavior "through powerful social norms," Perry said, and without it, the state would endure the erosion of what he called a, "child-centric marriage culture."

"We believe that there are significant risks imposed in redefining marriage in genderless terms," Perry said.

Idaho’s case is just the latest in a slew of state-level suits challenging the definition of marriage which have been filed since the federal Defense of Marriage Act was struck down by the Supreme Court last year.

Last week, an Arkansas judge ruled that state’s ban unconstitutional, prompting several couples to wed the next day. There are 17 states where same-sex marriage is currently legal. Marriage bans in every other state except North Dakota and Montana are currently being challenged in court.

Al Jazeera and wire services