Minnesota Appeals Court Overturns Dismissal Of Lawsuit Challenging Legal Barriers To Same Sex Marriage In State; Rules Case Must Return To District Court

In a win for gay rights advocates, a state appeals court on Monday overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit that sought to remove legal barriers to same sex marriage in Minnesota. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of three same-sex couples, will now return to Hennepin County District Court, where it will likely proceed to trial as debate heats up over a state-wide vote next fall to ban gay marriage in Minnesota. The Star Tribune reports that in its order, the appeals court ruled that a district judge threw out the lawsuit before properly analyzing the couples' equal-protection, due-process and freedom-of-association claims. The couples, on behalf of Marry Me Minnesota, sued Hennepin County Registrar Jill Alverson and the State of Minnesota in 2010 after Alverson's office denied them applications for marriage licenses, citing the Minnesota Defense of Marriage Act. The couples argued that DOMA was unconstitutional. The following March, District Judge Mary Dufresne dismissed the lawsuit, rejecting the couples' claims on the basis of Baker vs. Nelson, a 1971 Minnesota Supreme Court decision that said limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples does not violate the U.S. Constitution. In the 15-page unpublished ruling, the Appeals Court ruled that Dufresne was right when she threw out the suit because the state was not an eligible defendant and because it did not violate the couples' religious freedom, but that she improperly relied on the Baker case. The couples should be granted an opportunity in district court to prove their rights were violated, Judge Renee L. Worke wrote. "...Even if the right to marry is not considered a fundamental right, appellants should have been granted an opportunity to show that MN DOMA is not a reasonable means to its stated objective -- to promote opposite-sex marriages to encourage procreation," Worke wrote. The couples' attorney, Peter Nickitas called the order "a win for marriage equality." He said the case will now return to trial, and, if halted by another dismissal, will be appealed again. "We told the court of appeals what we wanted and they listened," he said. The plaintiffs include Doug Benson, executive director of Marry Me Minnesota, and his partner, Duane Gajewski of Robbinsdale; Tom Trisko and his partner, John Rittman of Minneapolis; and Jessica Dykhuis and her partner, Lindzi Campbell of Duluth, plus their son, Sean Campbell.