Court to Hear Lambda Legal's Nevada Marriage Case

A federal court agreed today to hear Lambda Legal's lawsuit on behalf of eight couples challenging Nevada’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples.

Meet the couples here.

Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Tara Borelli says:

This is an important first step in bringing the freedom to marry to Nevada. These loving couples, burdened by the stigma of Nevada’s marriage ban, will have the chance to demonstrate in court that their relationships and their families are worthy of equal dignity and respect.

Nevada’s prohibition on marriage for same-sex couples serves no legitimate state interest, a fact the state even acknowledged by creating a parallel, but less respected, legal status of registered domestic partners. By not allowing them to marry, the state brands these loving couples and their children as second-class citizens.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada also allowed the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage to intervene as a defendant in the lawsuit. The group was the proponent of the ballot initiative banning same-sex couples from marriage.

Gov. Brian Sandoval, joined by Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover, had moved to dismiss the case. Today, the Court agreed to hear that motion at the same time as hearing argument in the parties’ motion for summary judgment.

Learn more about the case.