Thursday, November 13, 2014

Despite Lifting Stay, Kansas Officials Fight Implementation Of Gay Marriage Ruling


Kansas' leading LGBT advocate, Kansas Equality, has warned of “some bumps along the way to full marriage equality” in Kansas.
The warning came a day after the Supreme Court refused to stay a ruling striking down Kansas' ban on gay marriage as the state pursues an appeal.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt said the decision applies only in Douglas and Sedgwick counties, defendants in the case, while the ACLU, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of two plaintiff couples, said that it applies statewide.
Schmidt reiterated in a statement that the case has been appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and that the “underlying case on the merits also remains pending.”
Schmidt also filed a case with the Kansas Supreme court, which resulted in the court ordering officials not to issue marriage licenses to gay couples as the case proceeds.
District court clerks' offices issue marriage licenses in Kansas, which has a 3-day waiting period.
Johnson County Court Clerk Sandra McCurdy told the AP that she would not issue licenses to gay couples until she hears “something from the Kansas Supreme Court.” She said that roughly 70 applications are pending.
“Get ready for some bumps along the way to full marriage equality,” Thomas Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas, said in a Facebook post.
In Douglas County, a judge waived the state's mandatory waiting period for three couples and said he would continue to do so on a case-by-case basis. As of noon, only a handful of Kansas' 105 counties were accepting marriage applications from gay couples.
Republican Governor Sam Brownback, who campaigned on his opposition to marriage equality, has also indicated that he'll continue defending the state's restrictive marriage ban.

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