Public officials in Ohio must recognize same-sex marriages when issuing death certificates, a federal judge ruled on Monday.
While the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black in Cincinnati was limited only to death certificates, Black used broad, sweeping language suggesting that the U.S. Constitution requires Ohio to recognize valid same-sex marriages from other states.
“Once you get married lawfully in one state, another state cannot summarily take your marriage away,” Black wrote in his 50-page order, “because the right to remain married is properly recognized as a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.”
Attorney General Mike DeWine said he will appeal the ruling.
The decision stems from a court case filed in July by a Cincinnati couple who sought to have their out-of-state marriage license recognized so one of the men, dying of ALS, could be buried in his husband’s family plot. Another Cincinnati-area couple later joined the suit seeking the same recognition, as did a gay Cincinnati funeral home director asking for guidance on the issue.
Black granted temporary injunctions for both couples, but Monday’s order made the injunction permanent.
While Black didn’t rule on whether Ohio must completely recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages, he wrote that “a substantial logical and jurisprudential basis exists for such a conclusion.”
He particularly noted the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June that struck down the federal ban on recognizing same-sex marriages.
“The question is presented whether a state can do what the federal government cannot – i.e., discriminate against same-sex couples … simply because the majority of the voters don’t like homosexuality (or at least didn’t in 2004),” Black wrote, referring to the year Ohio passed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
“Under the Constitution of the United States,” Black continued, “the answer is no.”
Ohio State University law professor Marc Spindelman said while Black limited his ruling only to the issue of death certificates, the pressure is now on Ohio to show why it shouldn’t completely recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages – or, for that matter, allow gay marriages to be performed in the state.
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