Mississippi Ruling: Gays Treated As 'Lesser'

JACKSON, Miss. - In overturning Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriage, a federal judge says state law treats homosexuals like second-class citizens, much as racially discriminatory legislation of the 1950s and 1960s marginalized black residents.

In Tuesday's decision, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves says those actions "resulted in a constellation of state laws that treat gay and lesbian Mississippians as lesser, 'other' people."

Reeves says Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriage is unenforceable.

Two lesbian couples and a gay-rights group had filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn both a 1997 law and a 2004 constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.

After he ruled Tuesday, Reeves put his order on hold for two weeks so the state can appeal.

Attorney General Jim Hood says he'll ask an appellate court to block Reeves' order.