Federal Court Rejects Motion to Dismiss Challenge to Virginia Gay Marriage Ban

With all the gay marriage rulings over the last seven days in New Mexico, Utah and Ohio, the Christofascists must be reeling.  So far, every federal court ruling has been against the "godly folk" and their political whores in the Republican Party.  Adding to the list of rulings against the opponents of marriage equality was a ruling yesterday by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia that rejected a motion from the Staunton, Virginia Circuit Court Clerk seeking the dismiss a lawsuit challenging Virginia’s foul Marshal-Newman Amendment which wrote anti-gay discrimination into Virginia's Bill of Rights. LGBTQ Nation has details.  Here are highlights:

A federal court on Monday rejected a motion from the Staunton Circuit Court Clerk seeking to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this year on behalf of two couples by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Virginia, Lambda Legal, and the law firm Jenner and Block, will move forward with the Staunton Circuit Court Clerk and the Registrar of Vital Records remaining as named defendants.

U. S. District Judge Michael Urbanski in Harrisonburg said in Monday’s ruling that Gov. Bob McDonnell is protected by the constitutional doctrine of sovereign immunity. However, he refused to dismiss Staunton Circuit Court Clerk Thomas Roberts as a defendant. The other defendant is Janet Rainey, the state registrar of vital records.

The couples — Joanne Harris and Jessica Duff of Staunton and Christy Berghoff and Victoria Kidd of Winchester — filed the lawsuit on August 1.  They claim Virginia’s constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage and denying recognition of such unions sanctioned by other states violates the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitution.

 “The court recognized that ‘it is abundantly clear that plaintiffs’ alleged harm is actual, concrete, and particularized,’” noted Lambda Legal Counsel Greg Nevins. 

“We couldn’t agree more, and we are happy that the court is going to force Virginia to defend its marriage exclusion on the merits,” he said.

 The lawsuit is one of two challenges seeking to overturn Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban. A Norfolk couple filed a lawsuit in federal court in July.

 As we have seen in United States v. Windsor and other pro-gay marriage rulings, the only basis for laws and amendments like the Marshall-Newman Amendment is anti-gay animus and the improper sanctioning of one set of religious beliefs.  Neither withstand judicial scrutiny when honest courts consider the issue.