Wash. state gay marriage ban ruled illegal

OLYMPIA, Wash., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A state judge Tuesday ruled the State of Washington's ban on same-sex marriages was an unconstitutional form of discrimination.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks said Washington's constitution prohibited granting a particular right to one group of people while denying it to another.

In his 28-page opinion, Hicks said marriage was a form of contract that had a strong governmental component and also had a significant potential impact on the children of a relationship.

He also wrote the issue of homosexual marriage, as far as the state was concerned, was strictly a legal one and not an issue of morality because, "Democracy means people with different values living together as one people."

The ruling came in a challenge to Washington's 1998 ban on gay marriage.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer said Hicks didn't rule on whether the Legislature could get around the constitutional dilemma by creating other forms of civil unions.