Federal appeals court strikes down gay marriage bans in Western states

Los Angeles Times | October 7, 2014 | 1:26 PM

A federal appeals court today struck down gay marriage bans across the West, bringing to 35 the number of states where same-sex couples may marry.
The decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals specifically strikes down same-sex-marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada, but it applies to all of the circuit's states and overturns similar prohibitions in Alaska, Arizona and Montana.
In extending the benefits of marriage only to people who have the capacity to procreate, while denying those same benefits to people who already have children, Idaho and Nevada materially harm and demean same-sex couples and their children, Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for the three-judge panel.
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