Federal Judge Smacks Down Utah's Antigay Adoption Policy

The landmark Supreme Court marriage equality ruling leads to a legal victory for same-sex parents in Utah.

Sunnivie Brydum

Sunnivie is the managing editor of The Advocate, and an award-winning journalist whose passion is covering the politics of equality and elevating the unheard stories of our community. Originally from Colorado, she and her spouse now live in Los Angeles, along with their three fur-children: dogs Luna and Cassie Doodle, and "Meow Button" Tilly.

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Sunnivie Brydum

July 16 2015 4:30 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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In the wake of nationwide marriage equality, Utah must allow legally married same-sex parents to include both parents' names on state-issued birth certificates, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

"I'm just still trying to see if there's any way you can, now that same-sex marriage is legal, tell me Utah has a rational basis in discriminating against this woman," U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson told lawyers for the Utah Attorney General's Office, according to Salt Lake City TV station KTSU.

Judge Benson rejected the state's argument in a case filed by lesbian couple Angie and Kami Roe, who were denied the ability to list both women's names on the birth certificate of their newborn daughter.

"We are overjoyed by the ruling. We are the same parents walking out of the courtroom today as we were walking in, but to no longer be discriminated against and to be recognized as my daughter's mother by the state of Utah, that's an amazing feeling," Angie Roe said in a statement sent Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The case is the first of its kind to get a ruling since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision June 26, said ACLU senior staff attorney Joshua Block in a statement. It's unknown if the state will appeal the judge's ruling.

"The court's decision makes clear that Utah must provide the same benefits, protections, and obligations to married same-sex couples that it provides to every other married couple," said Block, who works for the ACLU's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV Project. "Utah's assisted conception statutes were passed to ensure that children have the protection of two legal parents from the moment they are born. The state could not identify any reason at all to explain why it should be able to deny that same protection to Angie and Kami's family."