Yesterday, Towleroad reported that four gay couples in Tennessee are suing the state for recognition of their marriages. They held a press conference yesterday shortly after the suit was announced at which the lead attorneys and plaintiffs spoke out, the Tennesseean reports:
The four couples were married in New York or California, where same-sex marriages are legal, and argue that Tennessee’s refusal to recognize their marriages violates their constitutional rights. The couples hail from across the state: Matthew Mansell and Johno Espejo, of Franklin; Valeria Tanco and Sophy Jesty, of Knoxville; Ijpe DeKoe and Thomas Kostura, from Memphis, and Kellie Miller and Vanessa DeVillez, of Greenbrier…
…“Like other families, we want to have rights and obligations and protections under the law,” she said. “Val and I are pregnant. We’re expecting our baby girl in March and honestly it’s frightening to me to consider if something goes wrong at the time of the delivery, because as it stands right now I don’t have a legal right to make decisions on Val’s behalf, decisions on our baby’s behalf.”
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP…
