SOUTH DAKOTA: Marriage Suit Coming

South Dakota's first marriage equality lawsuit is on the way.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges will officiate at the weekend marriage of a lesbian couple from South Dakota as the women prepare to take part in a groundbreaking lawsuit to force their home state to recognize their union. The couple, Nancy Robrahn, 68, and Jennie Rosenkranz, 72, say that along with two other gay South Dakota couples, they plan on filing a federal class-action lawsuit against state officials. Robrahn and Rosenkranz will argue that South Dakota should recognize same-sex marriages when performed outside of the state. In addition, the suit will seek to overturn South Dakota's statewide same-sex marriage ban enacted by a constitutional amendment in 2006. A spokesman for Hodges said she does not know Robrahn and Rosenkranz personally, but responded positively after those working with them reached out to her office.

Robrahn and Rosenkranz have been together for 27 years. In March they were denied a marriage license by the clerk's office in South Dakota's Pennington County.

RELATED:  Once the above suit is filed, that will leave North Dakota, Montana, and Alaska as the only states without marriage equality lawsuits.