Federal judge orders Ohio to recognize gay couple's marriage

A federal judge in Ohio has ordered state officials Monday to recognize the marriage of two men, John Arthur and James Oberhrfell, that was performed in Maryland. One of the men is in hospice care and as the judge says "is certain to die soon."

"The end result here and now is that the local Ohio Registrar of death certificates is hereby ORDERED not to accept for recording a death certificate for John Arthur that does not record Mr. Arthur's status at death as 'married' and James Obergefell as his 'surviving spouse,'" Judge Timothy Black wrote in granting the couple a temporary restraining order Monday.

"By treating lawful same sex marriages differently than it treats lawful opposite sex
marriages," the judge concluded, Ohio's 2004 constitutional amendment banning recognition of same-sex couples' marriages and Ohio's statute addressing the same issue "likely violates the United States Constitution."

Via Chris Geidner at Buzzfeed.