Indiana: Judge orders state to recognize the marriage of terminally ill lesbian

A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young, on Thursday extended a previous ruling ordering Indiana officials to recognize the marriage of a terminally ill lesbian.

Niki Quasney and Amy Sandler, who married last year in Massachusetts, asked Young to order the state to recognize their marriage so that Quasney, who has stage 4 ovarian cancer, can be listed as married on her anticipated death certificate and Sandler listed as her surviving spouse.

And today, he did just that.

“[T]he State of Indiana must recognize their marriage,” Young wrote in Thursday's 14-page order. “In addition, should Niki pass away in Indiana, the court orders William C. VanNess II, M.D., in his official capacity as the Commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health and all those acting in concert, to issue a death certificate that records her marital status as 'married' and lists Plaintiff Amy Sandler as the 'surviving spouse.'”

The couple have been together 13 years and are raising two daughters.

(via OnTopMag)