Federal lawsuit challenges North Dakota prohibitions

BISMARCK, N.D. – Seven couples filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging the constitutional prohibition on same-sex marriage in North Dakota, making it the last state in the country with a ban to be sued by gay couples seeking the right to marry in their home state.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fargo, challenges both North Dakota’s ban on gay marriage and its refusal to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who legally wed in other states. That means cases are currently pending in all 31 states with gay marriage bans.

Judges have overturned several of the bans since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act last year.