Kansas Urges Judge Not to Rule on Gay Marriage

The Kansas attorney general’s office has argued that a federal court should not weigh in on the state’s gay marriage ban until the Kansas Supreme Court has reviewed it.

Assistant Attorney General Steve Fabert on Friday urged U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree not to issue a preliminary injunction preventing Kansas from enforcing its ban.

Crabtree was hearing arguments after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of two lesbian couples. The couples were denied marriage licenses in Douglas and Sedgwick counties after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from five other states seeking to preserve gay marriage bans.

The Kansas Supreme Court has a separate petition from the attorney general’s office after a judge allowed gay marriages in Johnson County.