Two unlikely states are poised to win marriage equality in the next year or so.
Until recently, if you’d told us that marriage equality was this close to being the law of the land in Utah and Oklahoma, we’d have scoffed. But here we are: in both states, federal courts have ruled that banning marriage equality is unconstitutional.
Now, both cases are on track to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Utah case is rocketing along very swiftly, but the Oklahoma case could easily catch up — or they could be consolidated. In any event, they’ll probably end up at the US Supreme Court, unless another case gets their first and overturns marriage bans once and for all.
A permanent Oklahoma victory would be particularly delicious, since it would mean that Missouri and Texas would be surrounded on several sides by equality states. And a Utah win would partially surround Utah, particularly if Oregon overturns its ban this November.
The populations of Utah and Nevada aren’t huge — just a couple of million, a far cry from California and New York — but just a few weeks into the year and it’s already looking bright for winning over more states.
