A federal judge on Friday set a June 9
trial date for a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's gay marriage ban.
According
to the AP, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones II set a timetable
for the filling of pre-trial motions during Friday's conference with
lawyers.
Last week, Jones denied two separate
attempts by state officials to dismiss the lawsuit.
The suit is one of at least six filed
in recent months challenging Pennsylvania's 17-year-old law that
defines marriage as a heterosexual union and prohibits the
recognition of marriages entered into by gay couples under the laws
of another state.
The lawsuit ignited a chain of events
that led to the additional challenges.
After Pennsylvania Attorney General
Kathleen Kane said she could not defend the state's law because it
was unconstitutional, Montgomery County Register of Wills Bruce Hanes
independently began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.
Hanes issued 174 marriage licenses
before a court ordered him to stop.
Several couples who married with
licenses obtained in Montgomery County filed separate lawsuits asking
the courts to recognize their marriages as valid.