Minn. Judge Dismisses Marriage Lawsuit

A Hennepin County judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday that sought to remove longstanding legal barriers for same-sex couples seeking to marry in the state.

According to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, "In an order signed Monday, District Judge Mary Dufresne rejected an argument by the group Marry Me Minnesota that the state's 13-year-old Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates same-sex couples' rights to due process, equal protection, religious freedom and freedom of association."

Dufresne wrote that marriage equality will not exist in Minnesota "unless and until" the state supreme court repeals DOMA or overrules Baker vs. Nelson, a 1971 state supreme court decision that limits marriage to a man or a woman.

The lawsuit pitted three couples against Hennepin County registrar Jill Alverson and the state following a move by Alverson's office to deny their applications for marriage licenses last year.

Doug Benson, a plaintiff and executive director of Marry Me Minnesota, said that his group would appeal the decision.