Dem-Appointed Judge:
No Right to Gay Marriage
Thursday, October 23, 2014
A U.S. federal judge ruled Tuesday to uphold a Puerto Rico law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
District Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez became the first Democrat appointed to the federal court to rule in favor of a traditional marriage law since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key portion of the Defense of Marriage Act in the Windsor decision last year.
The judge maintained that the Windsor decision did not establish the right to same-sex marriage and essentially reinforced the concept that marriage is a state issue rather than a federal one.
Puerto Rico's civil code refuses recognition of "(a)ny marriage between persons of the same sex or transsexuals contracted in other jurisdictions."
Judge Perez-Giminez cited a portion of the high court's Windsor decision.
"The definition of marriage is the foundation of the State's broader authority to regulate the subject of domestic relations with respect to the 'protection of offspring, property interests, and the enforcement of marital responsibilities," he said.
