Couples challenging gay marriage bans
in three states have asked the Supreme Court to intervene.
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in
Denver has upheld lower court rulings striking down bans in Oklahoma
and Utah, while the Fourth Circuit in Richmond has ruled Virginia's
ban invalid.
Defendants in all 3 cases have appealed
to the Supreme Court. And plaintiff couples in all 3 cases agree.
On Thursday, the three couples
challenging Utah's ban asked the high court to accept the request by
Utah officials to review the case.
“At stake in this case is the liberty
of an entire class of Americans, who urgently need a ruling from this
Court that they are able to marry and to have their marriages
recognized on an equal basis with other citizens,” the couples said
in their request. “In the past year, lower courts around the
country have correctly recognized that state laws prohibiting
same-sex couples from marrying violate the Constitution. Yet because
these rulings do not apply nationwide, same-sex couples continue to
experience great uncertainty and serious harm. They cannot plan for
their own and their children’s futures secure in the knowledge that
states may not strip them of legal recognition of their familial
relationships when they move or travel.”
The request comes a day after the two
couples challenging Virginia's ban petitioned the Supreme Court to
consider their case.
“The Fourth Circuit's decision
invalidating Virginia’s marriage prohibition and affirming the
district court’s injunction against enforcement of those
discriminatory laws was correct,” the couples' request reads.
“This court should nevertheless grant the petition for certiorari
because this case presents a question of exceptional importance that
is currently being litigated in state and federal courts across the
country.”
Sharon Baldwin and Mary Bishop, the
couple who sued the Tulsa County Clerk in 2004 for refusing to issue
them a marriage license, have also asked for the high court's review.