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 U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree granted a preliminary
injunction stopping Kansas from enforcing its ban on gay marriage
and put the ruling on hold until Nov. 11 to give Kansas an
opportunity to appeal.
The decision, if upheld, would add to more than a dozen states where
same-sex marriage has become legal since the U.S. Supreme Court said
on Oct. 6 that it would not review recent U.S. appeals court
decisions that struck down state bans.
Crabtree ruled that the Kansas ban violated the rights of gay
couples to equal protection and due process under the U.S.
Constitution.
The Kansas ban was expected to be overturned after the U.S. Supreme
Court announcement. Kansas is in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals, which struck down bans in Oklahoma and Utah.
 Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said the state would ask the
full 10th Circuit to hear an appeal of the ruling. The Utah and
Oklahoma appeals were heard by a three-judge panel.
Crabtree said he was bound by the 10th Circuit decision and ruled
that Kansas must allow gay couples to marry and recognize the legal
marriages of same-sex couples performed elsewhere.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas challenged the ban on
behalf of two lesbian couples who were denied marriage licenses in
October.
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"They are of course thrilled," said Doug Bonney, chief counsel and
legal director for ACLU of Kansas.
He said the lead plaintiffs, Kail Marie and Michelle Brown, recently
celebrated their 21st anniversary together.
"Very soon, we hope, they can exercise the same right to marry that
every straight couple in Kansas has been able to exercise," Bonney
said.
A judge in October ordered Johnson County, the most populous in
Kansas, to grant gay couples marriage licenses, but the state
Supreme Court blocked his ruling on Oct. 10.
Four dozen same-sex couples sought licenses and two women who
obtained a license before the state supreme court order were married
in front of the Johnson County courthouse.
The number of states in which same-sex marriages may be performed
jumped to 32 from 19 after the U.S. Supreme Court's announcement.
(Reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis and Kevin Murphy in Kansas
City, Kansas; Editing by Jim Loney and Mohammad Zargham)
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