WYOMING: Gay Couple Challenges Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

A young gay couple has filed a federal court challenge to the constitutionality of Wyoming's ban on same-sex marriage. So far, they are representing themselves.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 13 by David Shupe-Roderick, 25, and Ryan W. Dupree, 21, is the first legal challenge in recent memory to Wyoming’s law defining marriage as being a contract solely “between a male and a female person.” The couple, who are representing themselves, filed the lawsuit after the Laramie County Clerk's Office refused three times to issue them a marriage license. That's unequal treatment, they said, and they're asking U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson to stop the state from enforcing any laws that block gays and lesbians from access to civil marriage. “We determined that a lawsuit was the only possible way for them to get to recognize us as people,” Shupe-Roderick said. “I think it’s time that Wyoming lives up to its title. You know they call themselves the Equality State? Well, they’re not so equal.”

The plaintiffs say they cannot afford an attorney and can't find one to take their case for free. They add that so far they are relying on knowledge one of them acquired while interning for the ACLU.