KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A judge in Jackson County, Mo., has rejected an attempt by the Missouri General Assembly’s GOP leadership to stop Kansas City from recognizing same-sex marriages from other states.
Jackson County Circuit Judge J. Dale Youngs on Tuesday denied the state legislators’ motion to challenge an earlier ruling ordering the state to recognize out-of-state same-sex unions, reports the Kansas City Star.
Youngs ruled in October that Missouri must legally recognize same-sex couples who got married elsewhere – even though Missouri has a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage.
GOP leaders, Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey and House Speaker Tim Jones, filed a motion last week to appeal Youngs’ ruling to the state Supreme Court.
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But on Tuesday, Youngs said the legislators’ deadline to try to intervene in the case had already passed and he no longer has jurisdiction of the case.
The judge’s ruling could clear the way for Kansas City to change municipal employee pension plans to apply to same-sex marriages as well as to heterosexual marriages. The City Council will debate those plan changes this week.
