New York—(ENEWSPF)—September 4, 2014. Today the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled in favor of the freedom to marry, upholding lower-court decisions in Indiana and Wisconsin and rejecting marriage discrimination as a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. Judge Richard Posner, appointed by President Reagan, wrote the unanimous opinion for the three-judge panel.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, released the following statement:

“Today’s sharp and scathing ruling demolishes the arguments and unsubstantiated claims made by opponents of the freedom to marry, repeated in the outlier decision out of Louisiana yesterday, and affirms what nearly 40 other federal and state courts have found: the denial of the freedom to marry inflicts real harms and is constitutionally indefensible. Judge Posner’s authoritative opinion points the way, and the Supreme Court should move swiftly now to end marriage discrimination nationwide, without prolonging the harms and indignity that too many couples continue to endure in too much of the country.”

Same-sex couples can marry in 19 states and the District of Columbia, meaning 44% of Americans live in states where gay couples share in the freedom to marry.  Recent polling by the Washington Post/ABC News shows 59% of Americans support marriage, including a majority of young evangelicals and Republicans under 45 in other polls.

In total, 39 federal and state rulings in recent months have struck down state bans on marriage for same-sex couples.

Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.

Source: http://www.freedomtomarry.org