Plaintiffs in a case challenging
Alabama's ban on gay marriage have asked a federal judge to order
probate judges to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
Friday's
filing in Mobile seeks class-action status that would include all
gay couples in Alabama who wish to marry and requests to cover all
state probate judges, who are responsible for issuing such licenses
in Alabama.
The same federal court has already
declared the state's ban unconstitutional in two similar cases.
The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday
ordered judges to stop issuing licenses to gay couples.
Plaintiffs in the case are represented
by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alabama, the National Center for
Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
“If Alabama officials thought we were
going to sit back and allow them to deny same-sex couples their
constitutional right to marry, they thought wrong,” Ayesha N. Khan,
legal director of Americans United, said in a statement. “We are
gong to fight for these couples.”