Montgomery County would issue same-sex marriage license
PHILADELPHIA – Officials in the third-largest county in Pennsylvania vowed Tuesday to issue same-sex marriage licenses to any couple who seeks one, defying a state law that bans the practice.
The announcement comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit challenging a ban on same-sex marriages in Pennsylvania, the only northeastern state that has not legalized same-sex marriages or civil unions.
The chairman of the Montgomery County commissioners, Democrat Josh Shapiro, said he supports same-sex marriage and was ready for the county to defend the stance in court.
The offer of a same-sex marriage license “stands for any other couple who might approach the county,” Shapiro said Tuesday and added, “I think it is a very big deal what happened in Montgomery County today.”
Shapiro said the register of wills in Montgomery County, a relatively wealthy county in suburban Philadelphia, believes it is within his authority to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, partly because of a June 26 U.S. Supreme Court decision that the federal government could not deny federal benefits to same-sex couples who were married and live in states that allow same-sex marriage.
The register of wills, D. Bruce Hanes, said had been prepared to issue a license Tuesday to two women doctors who were the first to seek a same-sex marriage license from the county.
“I decided to come down on the right side of history and the law,” said Hanes, a Democrat.
However, the women – who are in their 40s and married in a religious ceremony in Pennsylvania several years ago – backed out Tuesday after their lawyer talked with the Americans Civil Liberties Union, which is helping lead the challenge to Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban.
“They decided that today was not the day … but they look forward to the day when they, like every American, can enjoy the benefits of getting married,” said the lawyer Michael Diamondstein, who would not identify his clients. “They are still very much committed to one another.”
The ACLU told him that the strategy had been tried in other states, only to have the marriages voided by courts later on, ACLU staff attorney Molly Tack-Hooper said.
“The lesbian and gay couples who might be considering going to get licenses in Montgomery County should be aware that there might be uncertainties about the status of their marriage going forward,” said Tack-Hooper, who insisted her group did not throw cold water on the doctors’ wedding plans. “In other states, the courts invalidated the marriages. We just don’t know what Pennsylvania courts would do.”
The ACLU sued July 9 on behalf of a widow seeking survivor’s benefits, 10 couples and one of the couples’ two teenage daughters. They include four couples who were legally married in other states but whose marriages go unrecognized by Pennsylvania.
Attorney General Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, has said her office will not defend against the ACLU lawsuit, leaving the job to Gov. Tom Corbett and his legal staff. A spokesman for Corbett, a Republican who opposes same-sex marriage, called any comment premature Tuesday.
“I can’t comment on something that hasn’t happened,” spokesman Nils Frederiksen said.
Stephen MacNett, the former longtime top lawyer for the state Senate’s Republican majority, said a county prosecutor could potentially pursue criminal penalties against county officials who issue same-sex marriage licenses and any couples who request them. Couples must swear that they know of no impediment to their marriage, and state law defines marriage as between a man and a woman, MacNett said.
“It raises a bunch of legal questions and issues that probably won’t be answered immediately,” MacNett said.
Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman, a Republican, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.