Third Federal Court Formally Strikes Down Louisiana’s Gay Marriage Ban

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said he would wait for a third and final federal court ruling declaring bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional before recognizing gay marriages in the state, and Thursday morning a district judge gave him just that.

Thursday, federal District Judge Martin Feldman reversed his previous ruling upholding the state’s gay marriage ban, as reported by The Times-Picuyane.

Louisiana’s laws and constitutional amendment prohibiting marriage for gay couples violates the Fourteenth Amendment, the judge said.

The order was a procedural motion to address the litigation specific to Louisiana in light of the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision, which effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide Friday.

Friday, the Jindal administration said it would wait for direction from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals before recognizing the marriages of gay couples in the state. Wednesday, after the appeals court ordered the reversal of the previous district court decision in favor of the state’s same-sex marriage ban, the governor’s office delayed the recognition of gay marriage yet again, until the district court formally struck down Louisiana’s ban.

When asked by TPM whether the state will recognize gay marriages now that the district court ruling has come down, Mike Reed, a spokesman in the governor’s office, said, “This order directs the agencies to comply and all questions about processing benefits should be directed to them.”

Update: This story has been updated to reflect comments from the governor’s spokesman.