Judge Orders Ohio to Recognize Out-of-State Gay Marriages

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Apr 15, 2014

Judge Orders Ohio to Recognize Out-of-State Gay Marriages

U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black ruled that Ohio must recognize same-sex marriages performed outside of state limits, despite a 2004 citizen vote defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

The judge was appointed to make the decision by President Barack Obama.

The ruling, which was decided Monday, means that gay couples married outside Ohio will be considered legally married, though the state has not legalized gay marriage reports Christian News.

The ruling does not require the state of Ohio to permit gay marriages.

Black’s ruling said, “Ohio’s marriage recognition bans are facially unconstitutional and unenforceable under any circumstances. The record before this court...is staggeringly devoid of any legitimate justification for the state’s ongoing arbitrary discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”

“When a state effectively terminates the marriage of a same-sex couple married in another jurisdiction by refusing to recognize the marriage, that state unlawfully intrudes into the realm of private marital, family, and intimate relations specifically protected by the Supreme Court.”

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is planning an appeal to the ruling on account of the public’s 2004 vote against expanding the definition of marriage in the state.

Governor John Kasich is in support of the appeal according to spokesman Rob Nichols.

 

Publication date: April 15, 2014



Judge Orders Ohio to Recognize Out-of-State Gay Marriages