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Pa. gay marriage suit takes big step toward trial
Source: Associated Press
Pa. gay marriage suit takes big step toward trial
AP foreign, Saturday November 16 2013
MARC LEVY
Associated Press= HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A federal court challenge to Pennsylvania's 17-year-old law banning the recognition of same-sex marriages took an important step toward a trial Friday when a judge rejected two different attempts to block the lawsuit and said high court treatment of cases involving sex and sexual identity have undergone a "sea change."
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III denied the motions to dismiss the lawsuit by Pennsylvania's secretaries of the departments of Health and Revenue and Bucks County's register of wills.
It is a strong sign the case is headed to trial and, potentially, the U.S. Supreme Court. In a note at the end of his 10-page decision, Jones set a Nov. 22 conference and advised lawyers in the case to be "fully prepared" to discuss the starting date of a trial.
Every northeastern state except Pennsylvania allows gay marriage. The lawsuit, filed July 9 by civil rights lawyers on behalf of a widow, 10 couples and one of the couples' two teenage daughters, was the first-known challenge to a 1996 Pennsylvania law that effectively bans same-sex marriage and recognition of such marriages from other states. An 11th couple was added last week to the list of plaintiffs.
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AP foreign, Saturday November 16 2013
MARC LEVY
Associated Press= HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A federal court challenge to Pennsylvania's 17-year-old law banning the recognition of same-sex marriages took an important step toward a trial Friday when a judge rejected two different attempts to block the lawsuit and said high court treatment of cases involving sex and sexual identity have undergone a "sea change."
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III denied the motions to dismiss the lawsuit by Pennsylvania's secretaries of the departments of Health and Revenue and Bucks County's register of wills.
It is a strong sign the case is headed to trial and, potentially, the U.S. Supreme Court. In a note at the end of his 10-page decision, Jones set a Nov. 22 conference and advised lawyers in the case to be "fully prepared" to discuss the starting date of a trial.
Every northeastern state except Pennsylvania allows gay marriage. The lawsuit, filed July 9 by civil rights lawyers on behalf of a widow, 10 couples and one of the couples' two teenage daughters, was the first-known challenge to a 1996 Pennsylvania law that effectively bans same-sex marriage and recognition of such marriages from other states. An 11th couple was added last week to the list of plaintiffs.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/11069469
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