U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby has ruled that Utah's gay marriage ban is unconstitutional and has struck it down.
The federal judge felt that the state's arguments against same-sex marriage were not enough to deny others the same rights that opposite-sex couples enjoy, The Associated Press reports. The 53-page ruling found that many arguments were simply speculative and lacked support.
Utah's defense was that the 2004 law was about promoting "responsible procreation" for the "optimal mode of child-rearing."
Shelby wrote in his ruling, reports The Washington Post, "The State's current laws deny its gay and lesbian citizens their fundamental right to marry and, in so doing, demean the dignity of these same-sex couples for no rational reason."
The news comes just a day after the New Mexico Supreme Court found that it was unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to marry.
While the Utah court case was filed by several lesbian and gay couples, the New Mexico one went up to the state's highest court after some county clerks began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as the state's constitution didn't specifically ban gay marriage.