US appeals court to hear gay marriage ban cases from four states on same day

The fight for marriage equality in the US will have a historic day next week when a federal appeals court will hear oral arguments in six different cases from four states.

Judges for the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, located in Ohio, is considering challenges to gay marriage bans in Kentucky (two cases), Michigan, Ohio (two cases), and Tennessee.

It will mark the fourth argument heard by a federal circuit court since the US Supreme Court’s decision last summer which struck down key provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2013, every court to consider the issue has ruled in favor of gay marriage including federal and state courts in Utah, Ohio, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The Tenth and Fourth Circuits, the last level before the Supreme Court, heard oral arguments earlier this year and issued three decisions held that same-sex couples had the right to marry in cases from Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia, respectively.