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Denver’s 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Begins Hearing Same-Sex Marriage Cases

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Flickr-Creative Commons
Gay marriage protester outside the Minnesota Senate chamber, 2010

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver is hearing oral arguments Thursday over a federal court’s December ruling that Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. It’s one of two cases the three-judge panel will hear regarding same-sex marriage bans in the coming weeks.

The court case precedes a similar case from Oklahoma April 17. Brain Moultin with the Human Rights Campaign [HRC], a national LGBT advocacy group, says the cases being heard in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals are the first of a series of same-sex marriage cases under appeal across the country.

“Really this is the first time that we have seen a marriage equality case at this level since the case around California’s Proposition 8 several years ago,” said Moultin.

The Utah cases cite the Supreme Court’svoiding last yearof parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act as a reason why state bans on gay marriage are unconstitutional.

While Moultin is unsure what the three appellate judges will ultimately decide in the Utah case, he says eight lower court judges have already ruled in favor of marriage equality.

“And eight for eight they have said that those marriage bans are unconstitutional. And those are judges appointed by the current president and Regan and George W. Bush,” he said. “So really it seems like all of the momentum on this issue in the courts is going in one direction.”

The HRC says the 10th Circuit Court is just one of the country’s circuit courts to hear marriage equality cases this year. Nevada, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan also have appeals cases pending.

In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in United States V. Windsor that Section 3 of DOMA—which denied federal benefits and protection to same-sex couples—was unconstitutional. The Human Rights Campaign says since then, no marriage ban has survived a federal court challenge.

The hearing for the Utah appeals case will be held in Division I of the Byron White Courthouse in Denver Thursday. The courtroom will open at 9:15 a.m.

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