Prominent legal group Lambda Legal will file a federal lawsuit in
West Virginia on Tuesday.
According to The
Charleston Gazette, the
group will hold a press conference at 10 AM in Huntington to discuss
the lawsuit.
Lambda Legal is representing gay and
lesbian couples seeking to marry in legal challenges filed in several
states, including Illinois, Virginia and Nevada.
Casey Willits, executive director of
Fairness West Virginia, confirmed to the paper that her group has
been working with Lambda Legal, but would not discuss details of the
suit.
“We've been working with them and
looking at issues this summer regarding West Virginia and how it fits
into federal legal precedent,” Willits said.
“I think we may be hearing about an
important lawsuit on the constitution,” said Delegate Stephen
Skinner, an openly gay Democrat from Jefferson.
A West Virginia statute limits marriage
in the state to one man and one woman. Efforts to amend the state
constitution to ban gay marriage have died in the Legislature.