Three Pittsburgh Area Couples File Lawsuit to Legalize Gay Marriage in Pennsylvania

A Bridgeville couple for 22 years with two teenage daughters filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to overturn Pennsylvania’s ban on gay marriage.

The ACLU and the Philadelphia law firm Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller filed the lawsuit in Harrisburg alleging that Pennsylvania's Defense of Marriage Act and refusal to marry lesbian and gay couples or recognize their out-of-state marriages violates the fundamental right to marry as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The act defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

There are 23 plaintiffs, including Deb and Susan Whitewood of Bridgeville and two other Allegheny County couples. The Whitewoods are joined as litigants by their two daughters, Abbey, 16, and Katie, 14. The couple of 22 years also has an adopted son, Landon, age 2.

In late June, the Whitewoods went to the Washington County Recorder of Wills office and were turned down when they asked for a marriage license, according to the Post-Gazette. Mary Jo Poknis of Washington County is a defendant in the lawsuit due to refusing the application.

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference spokesperson told the Post-Gazette that the church does not support legalization of same-sex marriage.