PA Judge Dismisses Suit Against Gay Couple

October 20, 2004

DOYLESTOWN, PA — An attempt by a group of Pennsylvania legislators to intervene in a potential case involving same-sex marriage has been rejected by a judge.

The case involved a dozen state lawmakers who tried to strengthen Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriages by suing two gay men who want to marry.

Robert Seneca, 49, and Stephen Stahl, 55, of New Hope, tried to apply for a marriage license in March at the Bucks County Courthouse, but Register of Wills Barbara G. Reilly said she couldn't legally accept an application for a same-sex union.

Seneca and Stahl later said they would consider filing a lawsuit appealing her decision.

The 11 Republicans and one Democrat who sponsored the state's 1996 Defense of Marriage Act said they filed their suit in an attempt to have the law affirmed before Seneca and Stahl seek to have it declared unconstitutional.

But Bucks County Judge Mitchell Goldberg ruled Tuesday that the preemptive strategy is not legal.

Goldberg said that the lawmakers did not show the required imminent harm needed for them to proceed.