US: Lawsuit hopes to allow gay couples to marry in Ohio
A lawsuit has today been filed with a view to allowing gay and lesbian couples in the US state of Ohio to marry.
The lawsuit seeking to strike down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was filed in federal court in Cincinnati on behalf of six gay couples hoping to marry.
It read: “They have an urgent need to affirm their commitment to one another before their children, their family, their friends and their community… For plaintiffs, marriage is a deeply held value. They want to be married in Ohio, their home state.”
Among the attorneys was Al Gerhardstein who also filed a lawsuit in February which led to a judge ruling that the state must recognise the marriages of same-sex couples wed out of state.
Judge Timothy Black’s official ruling came earlier this month, meaning the state must recognise out-of-state same-sex marriages. He announced the intention make the week before making the ruling, and halted the enforcement of the ruling shortly afterwards.
Ohio voters approved a ban on same-sex marriage in 2004, and the state’s Attorney General plans to continue defending it.
