Four gay and lesbian couples on Friday
filed a legal challenge to Indiana's ban on gay marriage.
According to the AP, the suit was filed
in federal court in New Albany. It asks a judge to force Indiana to
recognize the out-of-state marriages of gay couples and issue
marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The case comes just weeks after Indiana
lawmakers altered the language of a proposed constitutional amendment
seeking to limit marriage to a heterosexual union, keeping the
amendment from reaching voters this November.
(Related: Indiana
proposed gay marriage ban pushed back.)
“I think it's fairly clear the people
of Indiana cannot depend upon the legislature and the governor to do
what is right, so we're turning to the federal courts to do it,”
Dan Canon, one of several attorneys working on the case, told
reporters.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller
announced that his office will defend the law in court.
“People of goodwill have sincere
differences of opinion on the marriage definition, but I hope
Hoosiers can remain civil to each other as this legal question is
litigated in the federal court,” Zoeller
said in a statement.