Challenge to Missouri gay marriage ban heads to trial

St. Louis (AP) — A legal challenge to Missouri's gay marriage ban returned to court in St. Louis Monday and appears to be headed to trial next month.

The city issued marriage licenses to four same-sex couples in June, setting up a court fight in a state where gay marriage is banned under a 2004 amendment to the Missouri Constitution.

St. Louis officials have agreed to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples pending resolution of the legal case and others in state and federal courts.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Francis Slay says lawyers for the city and state appeared briefly before Circuit Judge Rex Burlison at a Monday status hearing. The judge set a trial date for late September.

The case considered today is not the only marriage equality case in Missouri. An American Civil Liberties Union challenge on behalf of two same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Jackson County has been moved from state to federal court at the request of Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster.

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The Gayly – August 11, 2014 @ 4:50pm.