Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt
believes a federal judge's order striking down the state's ban on gay
marriage will be overturned because there is no constitutional right
for gay couples to marry.
“Is there really a constitutional
right?” Pruitt,
a Republican, rhetorically asked. “[Are] there cases that
support that individuals' sexual orientation should be the heart of
equal protection under the 14th Amendment? And that's
just not the case.”
Pruitt insisted that courts have
already rejected the argument.
“When you look at where the Equal
Protection Law came from, the 14th Amendment, the right to
be treated equally under the laws, it came after the Civil War,”
Pruitt said, adding that the amendment was written to protect people
from discrimination based on race or gender, not behavior.
In his 68-page ruling, U.S. District
Judge Terence Kern said that Oklahoma's 2004 voter-approved
constitutional amendment, known as Question 711, violated the 14th
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A separate ruling striking down
Utah's ban also cited the provision.
(Related: Sally
Kern condemns Oklahoma gay marriage ruling: “Homosexuality is a
human wrong.”)