• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

Federal Court Says Tennessee Must Recognize Marriages of Gay Plaintiffs While Legal Challenge Proceeds

March 14, 2014 by Andy Towle

A U.S. District Court in Nashville today said that Tennessee officials must recognize the marriages of three gay couples who married in other states while their legal challenge, filed in October, proceeds.

Mansell_espejoNCLR reports, via press release:

Tennessee now joins several other states—including Utah, Oklahoma, Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, Kentucky, and Texas—in which a federal court has ruled that states must allow same-sex couples to marry or recognize the marriages of couples who married in other states since the Supreme Court’s ruling last June requiring the federal government to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples. Every federal court to have considered such a challenge since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in United States v. Windsor has ruled in favor of the freedom to marry for same-sex couples.

In her ruling today, U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger took note of these earlier decisions, writing: “In light of this rising tide of persuasive post-Windsor federal caselaw, it is no leap to conclude that the plaintiffs here are likely to succeed in their challenge to Tennessee’s Anti-Recognition Laws.”

TennesseeThe couples filed a federal lawsuit on October 21, 2013 alleging that Tennessee’s failure to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples violates the federal Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process and the constitutionally protected right to travel between and move to other states. The couples filed a motion in November 2013 to seek immediate protection while their case proceeds. In granting that motion today, Judge Trauger held that Tennessee’s laws prohibiting the state from acknowledging the equal dignity of the married couples’ relationships and families likely would cause them significant and irreparable harm, including because one of the couples is expecting a baby within days and urgently needs the legal protection and security of having both partners recognized as legal parents, as other married couples in Tennessee are recognized.

The couples are Dr. Valeria Tanco and Dr. Sophy Jesty of Knoxville; Army Reserve Sergeant First Class Ijpe DeKoe and Thom Kostura of Memphis; and Matthew Mansell and Johno Espejo of Franklin.

The couples are represented by attorneys Abby R. Rubenfeld of Nashville, William Harbison, Scott Hickman, Phil Cramer, and John Farringer of the law firm of Sherrard & Roe in Nashville, Maureen T. Holland of Memphis, Regina Lambert of Knoxville, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).

Read more about the case HERE.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: gay marriage, Gay Marriage, News, Tennessee, Tennessee

Recent Posts

  • Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    12 hours ago
  • Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    13 hours ago
  • It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    14 hours ago
  • Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    2 days ago
Previous Post: « Father Of Victim In Texas Slaying of Lesbian Couple Held On $500,000 Bail
Next Post: Movies: Jake Gyllenhaal² in ‘Enemy’ »

Primary Sidebar

  • Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

  • Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

  • It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

Recent Posts

  • Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    12 hours ago
  • Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    13 hours ago
  • It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    14 hours ago
  • Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    2 days ago
  • Pete Buttigieg Confirmation Hearing Scheduled for Thursday

    Pete Buttigieg Confirmation Hearing Scheduled for Thursday

    2 days ago
  • Married Lincoln Project Co-Founder John Weaver Admits Sending Sexually Inappropriate Texts to Male Job Applicants, Says He’s Gay

    Married Lincoln Project Co-Founder John Weaver Admits Sending Sexually Inappropriate Texts to Male Job Applicants, Says He’s Gay

    2 days ago
  • Bill Maher Shoots Down Kellyanne Conway’s Defense of Trump’s Legacy, That Many Folks Are Better Off: ‘A Lot of Them Are Dead!’ — WATCH

    Bill Maher Shoots Down Kellyanne Conway’s Defense of Trump’s Legacy, That Many Folks Are Better Off: ‘A Lot of Them Are Dead!’ — WATCH

    2 days ago
  • Ralph Lauren Drops 7-Year Sponsorship of Pro Golfer Justin Thomas Over Homophobic Slur

    Ralph Lauren Drops 7-Year Sponsorship of Pro Golfer Justin Thomas Over Homophobic Slur

    2 days ago
  • James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    2 days ago
  • Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    3 days ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2021 · Log in