Judge strikes down Montana's ban on same-sex marriage

HELENA, Mont. - A federal judge in Montana on Wednesday overturned the state's same-sex marriage ban.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ruled that Montana's constitutional amendment limiting marriage to between a man and a woman violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

"This Court recognizes that not everyone will celebrate this outcome," Morris wrote. "This decision overturns a Montana Constitutional amendment approved by the voters of Montana. Yet the United States Constitution exists to protect disfavored minorities from the will of the majority."

In September, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Idaho and Nevada's bans are unconstitutional. Montana is part of the 9th Circuit, and Morris cited the appeals court's opinion in his ruling.

The move comes after four same-sex couples filed a lawsuit in May challenging Montana's ban. The plaintiffs included Angie and Tonya Rolando.

"Calling Tonya my partner, my significant other, my girlfriend, my perpetual fiancée has never done justice to our relationship," Angie Rolando said. "Now I can look forward to the day when I can introduce Tonya as my wife.

"Love won today," she said in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana. The organization said earlier that it expected the favorable ruling because of the 9th Circuit's finding.

Morris also noted Montana no longer can deprive plaintiffs and other same-sex couples of the chance to marry their loves. He said his ruling was effective immediately.

"The time has come for Montana to follow all the other states within the Ninth Circuit and recognize that laws that ban same-sex marriage violate the constitutional right of same-sex couples to equal protection of the laws," the judge wrote.

Meanwhile, a judge issued the first same-sex marriage licenses and a couple was married in South Carolina on Wednesday, even as the state attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and block the unions.

Judge Irvin Condon's office issued six licenses in the first 90 minutes the Charleston County Probate Court office was open and one of the couples, Kristin Anderson and Kayla Bennett, exchanged vows outside the office.

"We want to get in before they change their minds and pull the rug out again," Anderson told local media outlets, referring to the ongoing legal battles over gay marriage.

On Tuesday, the Kansas Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for additional gay marriages in the state's most populous county while declaring that it would defer to the federal courts on whether Kansas' ban on same-sex marriage s is constitutional.

Also, on Monday, seven same-sex Nebraska couples have filed a lawsuit to have their marriages recognized. The plaintiffs include Susan and Sally Waters of Omaha, who have been together for 17 years and were married in California before moving to Nebraska.

Waters was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer last year. She says without formal recognition of their marriage, her spouse won't receive the same tax and Social Security benefits to take care of the couple's children.