San Francisco (AP) -- Deciding one of the few federal lawsuits arguing the case for gay marriage, a U.S. District Court judge ruled on Thursday that a law passed by Congress in 1996 validating only unions between a man and a woman does not violate the Constitution.
But Judge Gary Taylor of the Central District of California also declined to rule on whether state's ban on same-sex marriage violates the civil rights of a gay Orange County couple while a separate legal challenge to California's laws works its way through the state courts.
"The question of the constitutionality of California's statutory prohibition on same-sex marriage is novel and of sufficient importance that the California courts ought to address it first," wrote Taylor, who presides in Central District of California.
Taylor's ruling came in a case brought by Christopher Hammer and Arthur Smelt, a Mission Viejo couple, who filed it last year as an alternative to the case advanced in the state courts by the city of San Francisco and a dozen same-sex couples. A state trial judge ruled in March that California's marriage laws run afoul of the state Constitution and the case is now on appeal.
In upholding the Defense of Marriage Act signed into law by President Bill Clinton, Taylor said that even though the law "has a disproportionate effect on homosexual individuals," the government's desire to promote procreation is a valid reason for infringing on the rights of gay couples.
Details here from the AP via the San Francisco Chronicle. Judge Taylor's published Order is here. (BTW, Judge Taylor is just about to retire.)