OKLAHOMA CITY — The archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City says he’s “profoundly disappointed” in a federal judge’s ruling that struck down Oklahoma’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

The Most Reverend Paul Coakley said in a statement released Wednesday that the ruling by U.S. District Judge Terence Kern “thwarts the common good.” Coakley called the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman a basic truth about humanity.

Coakley is currently touring the Middle East with Catholic Relief Services.

Kern ruled Tuesday that Oklahoma’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause. The judge described the ban as “an arbitrary, irrational exclusion of just one class of Oklahoma citizens from a governmental benefit.”

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