Puerto Rico Retains Same-Sex Marriage Ban

For the second time, a federal judge ruled in favor of upholding the same-sex marriage ban approved by voters. U.S. District Court Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez stated that people and legislators should decide the issue.

The lawsuit was over many local laws, including a 1902 piece of legislation defining marriage between a man and a woman.

“Because no right to same-gender marriage emanates from the Constitution, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico should not be compelled to recognize such unions,” Perez-Gimenez wrote in his opinion. “Instead, Puerto Rico, acting through its legislature, remains free to shape its own marriage policy.”

He also remarked on the decisions by the majority of other judges who have also heard similar lawsuits, questioning the motives behind their decisions. “Windsor does not – cannot – change things,” he wrote. “It takes inexplicable contortions of the mind or perhaps even willful ignorance … to interpret Windsor’s endorsement of the state control of marriage as eliminating the state control of marriage.”

He backs his decision with an opinion on the importance of traditional marriage. “Ultimately the very survival of the political order depends upon the procreative potential embodied in traditional marriage,” he said. “Those are the well-tested, well-proven principles on which we have relied for centuries.”