AUBURN, Ala. — Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard responded forcefully to news that a federal judge had overturned Alabama’s ban on gay marriage Friday.
“It is outrageous when a single unelected and unaccountable federal judge can overturn the will of millions of Alabamians who stand in firm support of the Sanctity of Marriage Act,” Hubbard said. “The Legislature will encourage a vigorous appeals process, and we will continue defending the Christian conservative values that make Alabama a special place to live.”
U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade ruled in Searcy v. Strange that Alabama’s ban on gay marriage violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
The plaintiffs in the case, Cari Searcy and Kimberly McKeand, have been a same-sex couple since 2000. They’ve lived in Mobile, Ala., since 2001, but traveled to California in 2008 to get legally married.
They have been raising McKeand’s child together since 2005, but Searcy has not able to legally adopt him because Alabama did not recognize the couple as spouses.
“There has been no evidence presented that these marriage laws have any effect on the choices of couples to have or raise children, whether they are same-sex couples or opposite-sex couples,” Granade wrote in her ruling. “In sum, the laws in question are an irrational way of promoting biological relationships in Alabama.”
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— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) December 3, 2014
