A federal judge on Wednesday stayed the
majority of his ruling ordering Ohio to recognize the out-of-state
marriages of gay and lesbian couples pending an appeal by the state.
“[T]he absence of a stay as to this
Court's ruling of facial unconstitutionality is likely to lead to
confusion, potential inequity and high costs,” U.S. District Judge
Timothy Black wrote in a
brief 4-page ruling.
Black made an exception for the
lawsuit's four plaintiff couples, ordering the state to recognize
their marriages for the purposes of birth certificates.
Three of the plaintiff couples are
women in which one of the partners is pregnant. The fourth couple,
two men who live in New York, adopted a boy last year who was born in
Ohio.
Attorney Al Gerhardstein of Cincinnati,
who is representing the couples, amended his original complaint filed
in February from seeking marriage recognition on birth certificates
to full recognition.
“Ohio's marriage recognition bans are
unconstitutional and unenforceable under any circumstances,” Black
wrote Monday in ordering Ohio to recognize the out-of-state marriages
of gay couples.
Black earlier ruled that Ohio must
recognize such marriages for the purposes of death certificates.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is
appealing both cases to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in
Cincinnati.