Shreveport Times: Same-sex marriage ruling disappointing

The Shreveport Times opines last week’s ruling by a federal judge upholding Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage:

Last week’s decision by a federal judge to uphold Louisiana’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is disappointing on many levels, but mostly because it means this state will continue to sanction what in the year 2014 is obvious discrimination against a specific segment of the population.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman’s ruling not only supports the state’s ban as constitutional but also clarifies that same-sex marriages performed legally in other states will not be recognized here.

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Same-sex marriage bans have no reasonable place in today’s society because they are based almost solely on traditional or religious prejudices. While the court’s failure to acknowledge that in this case is certainly disappointing, it is not the end of the debate.

Shreveport Times →

Feldman claimed that there are no fundamental rights at stake, even though the Supreme Court of the United States has determined that marriage is a fundamental right in more than a dozen cases.

Feldman is the first District judge to side with a state’s same-sex marriage ban since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its historic marriage decision in United States v. Windsor last summer, breaking a string of more than 20 consecutive rulings in favor of marriage equality.