Score another victory for marriage equality in the Midwest.
The U.S. Appeals Court in Chicago released a unanimous 3-0 ruling against the marriage equality bans in our neighboring states of Indiana and Wisconsin.
What is remarkable is that the three-judge panel took barely a week after the oral arguments to decide the case and write its ruling and that in writing the 7th Circuit decision, Judge Richard Posner, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, was so blunt in his opinion.
“Our pair of cases is rich in detail but ultimately straightforward to decide. The challenged laws discriminate against a minority defined by an immutable characteristic, and the only rationale that the states put forth with any conviction — that same-sex couples and their children don’t need marriage because same-sex couples can’t produce children, intended or unintended — is so full of holes that it cannot be taken seriously,” Posner wrote for the court.