Utah Court Decision Could End Same-Sex Marriage Discrimination Nationwide

On Thursday, a New Mexico Supreme Court decision made that state the 17th one to legalize same-sex marriages. Now only one day later, it looks like an 18th state has joined that growing list -- the state of Utah. And this could be the most important court decision in this fight for equal rights so far.

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled that Amendment 3 of the Utah state constitution, the amendment that barred same-sex marriages, was unconstitutional. He said:

“The court hereby declares that Amendment 3 is unconstitutional because it denies the Plaintiffs their rights to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. . .any regulation adopted by a state, whether related to marriage or any other interest, must comply with the Constitution of the United States.”

Of course, the state will probably appeal this court decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and if that court upholds Judge Shelby's decision, the United States Supreme Court will finally have to make a decision on whether the banning of same-sex marriages violates the United States Constitution.

So far, the Supreme Court has avoided having to make a decision on that. When they overturned the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), that decision was limited in scope -- and only applied to the federal government (saying the federal government could not discriminate through DOMA). They did not rule on the constitutionality of the numerous state laws banning same-sex marriages.

So things will soon be in the hands of the federal appeals court. If that court overturns the lower court ruling, the Supreme Court could still avoid making a decision by just letting the appeals court decision stand -- and then the onus of this fight for equality will stay with the individual states, and will have to be won state by state.

But if the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the lower court decision, the Supreme Court will have to make a decision finally -- either by refusing to hear the case and letting the appeals court decision stand (in which case it could be used to overturn laws in other states), or by hearing the case (and hopefully uphold the equality guaranteed by the Constitution).

Whatever happens, Utah (at least for now) has become the 18th state to allow same-sex marriages. Here is a list of those states:

1. California
2. Connecticut
3. Delaware
4. Iowa
5. Maine
6. Maryland
7. Massachusetts
8. Minnesota
9. New Hampshire
10. New York
11. Rhode Island
12. Vermont
13. Washington
14. New Jersey
15. Illinois
16. Hawaii
17. New Mexico
18. Utah
and
District of Columbia