A federal judge struck down Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage on Tuesday in the latest court decision extending the rights of matrimony to gay and lesbian couples in the United States, according to the Associated Press.
The decision came a day after another U.S. district judge declared a similar ban on gay marriage unconstitutional in Oregon, the 18th state to gain legal standing for same-sex nuptials, the AP reported.
U.S. District Court Judge John Jones III struck down a 1996 state law banning recognition of gay marriage, calling it unconstitutional on Tuesday, according to the AP. One widow, 11 couples and one couple's teenage daughters had sued. Their lawyers said another party has never been allowed to appeal in the state's place.
"By virtue of this ruling, same-sex couples who seek to marry in Pennsylvania may do so, and already married same-sex couples will be recognized as such in the Commonwealth,"Jones wrote in overturning Pennsylvania's 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, according to the AP.
Most recent federal court decisions lifting statewide prohibitions on gay marriage have come with a stay maintaining the status quo pending appeal, but Jones's ruling did not, the AP reported.
A three-day waiting period for all weddings in Pennsylvania will ensue and the state has 30 days to decide whether to appeal Jones's ruling, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, according to the AP.
Later on Tuesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco extended its earlier stay of a judge's decision last week striking down Idaho's gay marriage ban and set an expedited schedule for an appeal by the state, with oral arguments for that appeal are planned for early September, the AP reported.
