OHIO: Judge Orders State To Recognize Marriage Of Terminally Ill Gay Man

Chris Geidner has the breaking news at Buzzfeed:

A federal judge in Ohio ordered state officials Monday to recognize the marriage of two men that was performed in Maryland on the death certificate of an Ohio resident in hospice care who 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.

The couple flew by air ambulance to Maryland earlier this month in order to marry before Arthur succumbs to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. A spokesman for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who opposes same-sex marriage, declined to comment on today's ruling.