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Marriage Equality

Kansas Gov.: State Won't Recognize Same-Sex Marriages

Kansas Gov.: State Won't Recognize Same-Sex Marriages

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As same-sex couples wed in about a quarter of the state's counties, Gov. Sam Brownback is determined to block marriage equality.

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While about a quarter of Kansas's counties are issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the state's archconservative Republican governor, Sam Brownback, remains so determined to block marriage equality that he says there will be no state recognition of the unions until further notice.

That means, among other things, that people who take a same-sex spouse's name won't be able to change their name on their driver's license, and that state employees can't get benefits for same-sex spouses, reports Kansas City public radio station KCUR.

"There is still considerable legal ambiguity on the topic of same-sex marriage," Brownback aide Eileen Hawley said today. "Once that ambiguity is gone, the governor will direct state agencies to comply with applicable laws."

A federal court this month struck down Kansas's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, and the U.S. Supreme Court stayed that ruling only briefly, allowing marriages to begin last week. But the state's attorney general, Derek Schmidt, contends the ruling applies only to the two counties whose clerks were named as defendants in the suit. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the couples seeking marriage rights, says it applies statewide.

Meanwhile Schmidt, also a Republican and a supporter of the marriage ban, says the same-sex couples who have wed in the state so far are legally married, but he also vowed to fight marriage equality all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary, KCUR reports. Both Schmidt and Brownback were reelected to office this month.

At last count, 24 of Kansas's 105 counties were licensing same-sex marriages, according to the station. This week Johnson County, the state's most populous one as it includes many Kansas City suburbs, joined the list when the state Supreme Court lifted a stay of a county judge's order to issue licenses to same-sex couples. The state high court, however, did not rule on the legality of same-sex marriage overall.

Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas, expressed frustration with the situation, including the conflicting signals coming from Brownback and Schmidt. "It's clear that they don't respect what's coming from the federal courts and they will continue to discriminate and deny gay and lesbian couples their constitutional rights as long as they can," Witt told KCUR.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.