News (USA)

Federal judge orders recognition of same-sex marriage of terminally ill woman

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- A federal judge has ruled that the state must recognize the marriage of a gay couple before one of the women, who has cancer, dies.
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Federal judge orders recognition of same-sex marriage of terminally ill woman
Amy Sandler and Niki Quasney
Amy Sandler and Niki Quasney Lambda Legal

Update: 12:30 p.m. EDT

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A federal judge has ruled that the state must recognize a gay couple’s out-of-state marriage before one of the women, who has cancer, dies.

Lambda Legal attorney Paul Castillo, who represented the women, says U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young “ordered the state to recognize this particular couple’s out of state marriage.”

Niki Quasney and Amy Sandler wanted Indiana to recognize their 2013 marriage in Massachusetts, one of 17 states where gay marriage is legal.

Quasney has stage 4 ovarian cancer and the Munster, Ind., couple wanted Young to order the state to recognize their marriage in Quasney’s anticipated death certificate.

Their case, filed on behalf of the couple by Lambda Legal, is one of five in Young’s court challenging Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban. The decision doesn’t affect the other four lawsuits.

Follow this case: Baskin v. Bogan.

Associated Press contributed to this report.
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