Court Rejects 2 More Gay Marriage Bans

Two more state bans on gay marriage were rejected as unconstitutional yesterday—the day after a federal judge in Louisiana broke a chain of more than 20 consecutive rulings overturning other bans. The US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, based in Chicago, ruled against the bans in Wisconsin and Indiana just nine days after hearing arguments, reports the New York Times. Judge Richard Posner, a Reagan appointee and noted conservative intellectual, rejected the states' defense of the bans as "totally implausible," reports Reuters.

Posner, writing on behalf of the three-judge panel, said the states' argument that same-sex couples don't need marriage because they can't produce children was "so full of holes that it cannot be taken seriously." Heterosexuals "get drunk and pregnant, producing unwanted children; their reward is to be allowed to marry," he wrote. "Homosexual couples do not produce unwanted children; their reward is to be denied the right to marry. Go figure." Posner has been feuding with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for years, and his decision included a sly reference to Scalia's dissent in 2003's landmark Lawrence vs Texas anti-sodomy case, reports Talking Points Memo. Indiana and Wisconsin say they will appeal the decision. (More gay marriage stories.)