Arguments early next month on Nevada gay marriage

Carson City, Nev. (AP) — A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments early next month on the challenge to Nevada's gay marriage ban, just days before another circuit considers other same-sex marriage prohibitions in Utah and Oklahoma.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Monday it will hear arguments April 9, making the Nevada case the first in the nation to be argued at the appellate court level since last year's historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, according to Lambda Legal, a gay rights advocacy group.

"We're very excited to make the case for equality at the 9th Circuit," Jon Davidson, legal director at Lambda Legal, said in a statement.

Eight gay couples represented by Lambda Legal are challenging Nevada's constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2002 that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. A federal judge in Reno upheld the law in 2012, prompting the appeal.

The Coalition for Protection of Marriage, a conservative group that pushed for the amendment and collected signatures to qualify it for the ballot, is the lone defendant in the case after Nevada's attorney general last month said the law is indefensible in light of other federal court rulings.

Hearings also are set for April before the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The judges must decide if they agree with federal judges in Utah and Oklahoma who ruled those states' same-sex-marriage bans violate gay and lesbian couples' constitutional rights. The 10th Circuit Court will hear arguments in the Utah case on April 10. The Oklahoma hearing is scheduled April 17.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto filed a brief supporting the state's same-sex marriage ban in January on the same day the 9th Circuit issued a ruling in another case extending civil rights protections to gays and lesbians. The court ruled potential jurors cannot be excluded from jury duty based on sexual orientation.

Masto, a Democrat, said the legal analysis of that decision made Nevada's law indefensible. After consulting with Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, the state withdrew its support of the law.

Currently, gay marriage is legal in Washington, D.C., and 17 states.

Including Utah and Oklahoma, six federal judges have issued pro-gay marriage rulings since the Supreme Court's decision in Windsor v. U.S. in June that struck down part of the federal anti-gay marriage law.

Legal battles over gay marriage are being waged across the nation, including in Michigan, where a federal judge expects to rule soon on that state's ban, and in Indiana, where gay couples have brought a lawsuit to force Indiana to recognize same-sex marriages from out of state and issue licenses to same-sex couples.

A federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction last month against the state's ban on gay marriage, then suspended his own ruling to allow the state to appeal. Similar rulings have been handed down in Virginia and Kentucky.

A resolution passed by the 2013 Legislature would repeal Nevada's same-sex marriage ban. If approved by lawmakers again next year it would go to voters for ratification in 2016.

by Sandra Chereb, Associated Press

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The Gayly – March 10, 2014 @ 7pm