Wyoming Judge Lets Gay Marriage Lawsuit Continue

A state judge declined Tuesday to either summarily rule on the constitutionality of a Wyoming law that specifies marriage is limited to one man and one woman or suspend a lawsuit challenging the law.

Instead, Laramie County District Court Judge Thomas Campbell said at a hearing that he will consider any additional facts and in November either rule on the law or allow the case to go ahead.

"I think you all assume too much," Campbell said after both sides argued that federal lawsuits elsewhere either have resolved the question of gay marriage in Wyoming or soon will.

Campbell said it's not yet known for certain that the U.S. Supreme Court will consider gay marriage, such as by examining a case out of Utah in which a federal appeals court in Denver ruled June 25 in favor of allowing gay marriage.

In Wyoming, four gay couples and the gay-rights advocacy group Wyoming Equality sued Gov. Matt Mead, Laramie County Clerk Debbye Lathrop and other state and local officials in March. The plaintiffs say that by not being allowed to marry, they are denied basic rights and privileges afforded to straight couples, such as the ability to be included in a family health insurance plan.

They asked Campbell to rule in their favor immediately. A lot could happen to any of the four couples in the year it might take for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage, one of their attorneys, James Lyman, told Campbell.

This story is part of our special report: "Gay Marriage". Want to read more? Here's the full list.