Gay rights attorney asks appeals court to allow Mississippi same-sex marriages to start next week

December 5, 2014 admin News, Religion Comments Off

16494913-large — Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for two lesbian couples and a gay-rights group that sued the state, speaks outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, Nov. 12, after U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves heard arguments for and against the lawsuit. Kaplan argued Wednesday that gay and lesbian Mississippians deserve the dignity of equal treatment under the law. Emily Wagster PettusThe Associated Press

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for two lesbian couples and a gay-rights group that sued the state, speaks outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, Nov. 12, after U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves heard arguments for and against the lawsuit. Kaplan argued Wednesday that gay and lesbian Mississippians deserve the dignity of equal treatment under the law. Emily Wagster PettusThe Associated Press — Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for two lesbian couples and a gay-rights group that sued the state, speaks outside the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, Nov. 12, after U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves heard arguments for and against the lawsuit. Kaplan argued Wednesday that gay and lesbian Mississippians deserve the dignity of equal treatment under the law.
Emily Wagster PettusThe Associated Press

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — An attorney is again asking a federal appeals court to let same-sex marriages start next week in Mississippi.

Roberta Kaplan represents a gay-rights group and two lesbian couples challenging Mississippi’s legal definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled for the plaintiffs Nov. 25, overturning the gay-marriage ban but putting his decision on hold for two weeks.

In a new court filing, Kaplan asks the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to let same-sex marriages start next week and continue while the state appeals Reeves’ ruling.

Kaplan cites a Wednesday ruling from another appeals court, which refused to extend a hold on gay marriages in Florida beyond Jan. 5 while that state appeals a ruling similar to the one from Reeves.