Ohio Judge Orders Recognition of Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriage On Death Certificate

While Ohio bans same-sex marriages, a judge has ruled that a valid same-sex marriage entered into in another state must be recognized on a death certificate. Ohio recognizes marriages from other states that it would not allow under its own law, the judge said, so same-sex marriages must be given the same comity and full-faith credit. “This is not a complicated case,” the judge wrote, according to the Gay People's Chronicle. “The issue is whether the state of Ohio can discriminate against same sex marriages lawfully solemnized out of state, when Ohio law has historically and unambiguously provided that the validity of a marriage is determined by whether it complies with the law of the jurisdiction where it was celebrated.”