Both the Governor and State Attorney General have been named as defendants in the case filed to challenge Pennsylvania’s gay marriage ban.
Although named as a defendant in the suit, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s office will not be defending the state in the federal lawsuit filed to challenge Pennsylvania’s gay marriage ban.
The suit, known as Whitewood v. Corbett, was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 21 residents of the state on Tuesday, and names both the Attorney General and Governor Tom Corbett as defendants in the suit. The Philadelphia Daily News reports:
The plaintiffs are 10 couples and one widow who want to marry here, want the state to recognize their out-of-state marriages or want equal protections granted to straight married couples.
Pennsylvania is the last state in the Northeast United States without either civil-union or marriage equality legislation, and it is believed that this case is the first case filed in federal court concerning marriage equality since DOMA was struck down by the US Supreme Court last month.