A Kansas City Judge on Friday ordered
Missouri officials to recognize the out-of-state marriages of gay and
lesbian couples.
Circuit Judge J. Dale Youngs sided with
10 plaintiff couples who presented oral arguments in their case eight
days ago.
“While having a standardized
definition of marriage that promotes 'consistency, uniformity and
predictability' may be a legitimate interest, there is no logical
relationship between that interest and laws that discriminate against
gay men and lesbians who have been married in jurisdiction in which
same-sex marriages are legal,” Youngs wrote in his ruling.
According to the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch, the ruling affects more than 5,400
Missouri couples who married in states with marriage equality,
including neighboring Iowa and Illinois.
The plaintiff couples are being
represented by the ACLU of Missouri, which filed the suit in
February.
“We're gratified that the court
recognized that married same-sex couples and their families are no
different than other couples, and that the Constitution requires them
to be treated equally,” said ACLU attorney Tony Rothert. “This
is not the first court to reach this conclusion, but it is the first
court to do so in Missouri, so it's a tremendous day for our state.”
Attorney General Chris Koster's office
said it was reviewing the ruling.
Two cases challenging Missouri's
restrictive marriage ban are pending.