Rainbow bLAWg

The ACLU is suing the state of Utah on behalf of four couples who were married between December 20th and January 6th when the ban on same-sex marriages was lifted in the conservative state.

Utah temporarily became the 18th state in the US to legalize same sex marriage when U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled that the ban was unconstitutional. The couples are four out of the approximately 1,300 who got marriage licenses in the weeks following the Judge’s ruling. Later, on January 6th, the Supreme Court stayed the ruling on the state’s Republican leadership’s request.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday says the state has put hundreds of gay and lesbian couples in legal limbo and prevented them from getting key protections for themselves and their children. “They’ve put a giant question mark over the lives of all these people that have married,” said John Mejia, legal director for the ACLU in Utah.

Mejia believes that the marriages performed during the 17-day window when gay marriage was legal are valid no matter what the court has ruled. He said the couples have vested rights in their new unions and should be able to move forward with efforts to make partners legal guardians of children, or add their spouses to their health insurance or pension plans.

Because it could take more than a year for the Supreme Court to rule on Utah’s same-sex marriage ban, the ACLU is seeking a declaration that the marriages that were performed before the stay are recognized by the state.

+++

You can give Rainbow Law’s legal document preparation service a risk-free try by ordering state-specific advance directives (living wills, medical & financial powers of attorney with hospital visitation & more). Payment can be made via a small donation or you can get them for free in exchange for a Tweet or Facebook post!

Just double click on the rainbow banner:

Google+

Carrie Stone