维吉尼亚同性恋婚姻禁令被法官否决

A federal judge has found the ban on gay marriage in the southeastern U.S. state of Virginia to be unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Arenda Wright Allen ruled late Thursday that Virginia\'s ban on same-sex marriage violates the right to due process and equal protection under the law. However, Wright Allen imposed a stay on his decision so no couples can marry before unless his ruling is upheld on appeal.

Currently, 17 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. allow same-sex marriage, while 33 states ban it. Virginia\'s gay marriage dispute is likely to go on to the Supreme Court.

Judge Wright Allen said Virginia\'s marriage laws unconstitutionally deny gay and lesbian citizens the fundamental freedom to choose to marry.

The Virginia decision comes just weeks after judges threw out bans on gay marriage in Oklahoma and in Utah.

In Indiana this week, a judge ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage will not go to a referendum vote in November.

Also this week, a judge in Kentucky ruled that the state must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, although the court did not rule on the the constitutionality of performing same-sex marriages in Kentucky.

美国联邦地区法院法官阿瑞达.莱特.艾伦星期四做出裁决，维吉尼亚州禁止同性恋婚姻违反了美国宪法所保障的“正当法律程序”（due process）和“平等保护”（equal protection）。不过莱特.艾伦法官同时决定暂停执行她的这项裁决，要等到裁决经过上诉后维持原判才允许同性恋结婚。

目前美国17个州加上首都华盛顿允许同性婚姻，33个州禁止同性婚姻。维吉尼亚州的这场同性婚姻之争很有可能一路打到联邦最高法院。

联邦法官莱特.艾伦说，维吉尼亚州的婚姻法拒绝同性男女选择结婚对象的基本自由，违反了宪法。

就在几个星期前奥克拉荷马州和犹他州的法官也推翻了对同性婚姻的禁令。

在印第安纳州一位法官这个星期裁决同性婚姻禁令不会在今年11月的选举中由全民公决来决定。

另外，本星期在肯塔基州，一位法官裁决，肯塔基州必须承认在其他州结婚的同性伴侣，不过法院没有裁定肯塔基州是否应该允许同性恋者结婚。