CINCINNATI (AP) — 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.
Federal Judge Timothy Black says ailing John Arthur’s death certificate can show James Obergefell (OH’-bur-kuh-fel) as his surviving spouse so they can be buried next to each other.
Ohio doesn’t recognize gay marriage.
A lawsuit filed by the Cincinnati couple last week says they recently married on an airport tarmac in Maryland before returning to Cincinnati the same day.
The suit says the pair have been in love for more than 20 years, that Arthur is likely on the verge of dying from a disease with no cure, and that “they very much want the world to officially remember and record their union as a married couple.”
___
Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
