CINCINNATI - A federal judge has ruled in favor of two Ohio men who want their out of-state marriage recognized as one of them nears death, writing that the men deserve to be treated with dignity in a case that some see as an encouragement for supporters of same sex marriage in the state.
On Monday, Judge Timothy Black ordered that the death certificate of ailing John Arthur show that he was married and that James Obergefell is his surviving spouse. The ruling means the pair can be buried next to each other in Arthur’s family plot at a cemetery that allows only descendants and spouses.
Ohio does not recognize same-sex marriage.
Arthur and Obergefell say they have been in love for more than 20 years, that Arthur is likely on the verge of dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease, and that “they very much want the world to officially remember and record their union as a married couple,” according to a lawsuit filed by the couple Friday against Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Attorney General Mike DeWine and a Cincinnati official responsible for filing death certificates.
Their fight, Obergefell said Tuesday, is about more than a piece of paper.
“To have a federal judge say, ‘You know what, John and Jim, your relationship exists, and it’s just as valid as any other married couple,’” Obergefell said.“It’s an incredible feeling - that we do matter.”
Though Black’s order was specific to the couple’s case, opponents of Ohio’s ban on gay marriage were encouraged by it.
“This is one more step toward marriage equality in the state of Ohio,” said the couple’s attorney, Al Gerhardstein, who said he has gotten calls from other same-sex couples who married in other states and are exploring their options to have their marriage recognized in Ohio.
The couple, determined to marry before Arthur died, flew in a special jet with medical equipment to Maryland, which recognizes gay marriage. They wed July 11 inside the plane on an airport tarmac before returning to Cincinnati the same day, according to court records.
In his ruling, Black said that historically, Ohio law has recognized out-of-state marriages as valid as long as they were legal where they took place, pointing to marriages between cousins and marriages that involve minors.
“How then can Ohio, especially given the historical status of Ohio law, single out same-sex marriages as ones it will not recognize?” Black wrote. “The short answer is that Ohio cannot.”
DeWine’s spokesman, Dan Tierney, said in a statement that “this is a temporary ruling at a preliminary stage under sad circumstances.”
DeWine’s office will defend the right of Ohioans to define marriage, he said, and the U.S. Supreme Court has recently emphasized that it is a definition that traditionally lies with states.
“Ohio’s voters are entitled to the choice they have made on this fundamental issue,” he said.
Kasich spokesman Robert Nichols said in a statement that the office doesn’t comment on pending litigation, “other than to say that the governor believes that marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Meanwhile in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that same-sex spouses forced to pay state estate taxes upon the deaths of their domestic partners are being issued refunds as a result of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act.
In declaring the section unconstitutional, the court granted gay couples the same rights to assets and lower tax costs under estate tax laws that are provided to couples in traditional marriages. Same-sex spouses may have been required to pay thousands of dollars more in New York estate taxes when domestic partners died.
New York has no estimate of the total amount of taxes that the state will refund.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 07/24/2013