Lesbian Couple Denied Divorce In PA

A lesbian couple has been denied a divorce by a Pennsylvania judge who told them they had no "fundamental right" to a marriage in the first place. Via Christian news site OneNewsNow:

"This is a plea for social change," the judge wrote. "If homosexuals had a fundamental right to be married to each other, this plea would be unnecessary." Diane Gramley of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania reacts to the judge's ruling. "Well, I think we have at least one good judge in Pennsylvania," she comments. "It was encouraging that he ruled that this lesbian couple could not get a divorce in Pennsylvania, because Pennsylvania does not recognize their marriage to begin with." Diane GramleyIt is refreshing, remarks the family advocate, that Judge Lash did not act as an activist judge, but instead ruled on the basis of current state law. The judge did rule that the two had a right to privacy. But... "The second [question] was whether that right to privacy guarantees a right to marriage, is basically what he said," Gramley explains. "And the other [question] was [whether] the fundamental right of marriage contemplate[s] same-sex marriage."

Pennsylvania has a state level version of DOMA, but no constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. This fall anti-gay activists plan to try for a fourth time to get such an amendment put to a statewide vote.