A court in Maryland says banning same-sex marriage is sex discrimination, and is therefore unconstitutional.

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge ruled today that Maryland’s law against same-sex marriage “cannot withstand constitutional challenge,” a key ruling in the volatile national debate on gay rights.

“After much study and serious reflection, this court holds that Maryland’s statutory prohibition against same-sex marriage cannot withstand constitutional challenge,” Judge M. Brooke Murdock wrote in her decision… Murdock also wrote that “although tradition and societal values are important, they cannot be given so much weight that they alone will justify a discriminatory statutory classification.”