News (USA)

Federal judge schedules new hearing in challenge to Kansas gay marriage ban

Federal judge schedules new hearing in challenge to Kansas gay marriage ban

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A federal judge has rescheduled a hearing for arguments over whether he should order Kansas to allow same-sex marriages.

KansasU.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree has scheduled a hearing for Friday, Oct. 31, at the federal courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. A previous hearing scheduled for Oct. 24 was cancelled.

The ACLU is seeking a federal court order to allowing same-sex marriages to resume statewide. The group says Kansas is bound by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that struck down the Utah and Oklahoma bans.

After the U.S. Supreme Court on October 6 declined to hear appeals from five states seeking to preserve gay marriage bans, a judge in Johnson County, Kan., ordered licenses to be issued to same-sex couples. Two women obtained one and quickly wed on October 10.

The ACLU filed its lawsuit on behalf of two lesbian couples who were later denied marriage licenses in Douglas and Sedgwick counties.

The ACLU argues same-sex couples should not be prevented from marrying, while government officials have vowed to defend the state’s constitutional prohibition against gay marriages.

Kansas is the only state under the 10th Circuit’s jurisdiction still enforcing its same-sex marriage ban.

Associated Press contributed to this report.
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