RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The ACLU of Virginia said Tuesday that it will file a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s gay marriage ban.
Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, the organization’s executive director, made the announcement less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that denied federal benefits to married gay couples. The justices also left intact a lower court ruling overturning California’s gay marriage ban – a decision that was based on a legal technicality and did not address the law’s constitutionality.
Gastanaga said lawyers from the ACLU and the gay rights group Lambda Legal will argue that a Virginia constitutional amendment and three underlying statutes violate the federal constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.
The amendment and statutes prohibit gay marriage and deny recognition of such marriages sanctioned by other states.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
“Thousands of Virginia couples are already living the deep commitment associated with marriage, without legal recognition of their relationships,” Gastanaga said in a written statement. “There is no rational reason for denying these loving couples the freedom to marry and every reason to grant them the same recognition by civil authorities that opposite-sex couples have.”
She said the lawsuit will be filed within a couple of weeks.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, Cuccinelli spokesman Brian Gottstein said after last month’s Supreme Court rulings that “this office will continue to defend challenges to the constitution and the laws of Virginia.”
The conservative Family Foundation of Virginia also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The gay rights group Equality Virginia praised the ACLU and Lambda Legal for taking the matter to court.
“Since the Supreme Court’s groundbreaking ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act, it remains unclear what exactly the decision means for loving gay and lesbian couples in Virginia,” said Equality Virginia’s executive director, James Parrish. “We applaud and support the actions of the ACLU and Lambda Legal to help bring all of the benefits, rights, and responsibilities that come with marriage equality to every family in Virginia.”
About three dozen states do not allow same-sex marriage, and Virginia is one of 29 states that have put the ban in their constitutions. The ACLU is also filing legal challenges to some of the other state bans as part of its nationwide “Out for Freedom” initiative, which seeks change at the ballot box and in legislatures as well as in the courts.
The ACLU said its goal is to legalize gay marriage in at least 20 states by the end of 2016.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
