A suburban Philadelphia county defying Pennsylvania’s marriage law issued its 100th same-sex license Friday, just weeks after opening the courthouse door to gay men and women.
Montgomery County Democrats behind the quiet rebellion said they want to be on the right side of history.
However, it is not clear the new unions will survive a legal challenge from Republican Governor Tom Corbett’s administration. And it is even less clear they will be recognized when it comes to health insurance, taxes, and other benefits.
The American Civil Liberties Union is trying a different tack to bring gay marriage to Pennsylvania, the only state in the Northeast that doesn’t legally recognize same-sex couples. The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit to challenge the state’s 1996 marriage act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. That suit could take years to wind through the courts.
In the meantime, 30 same-sex couples have married since Montgomery County awarded the first license July 24.
D. Bruce Hanes, the county’s register of wills, has said he believes he has the authority to issue the licenses in part because of a US Supreme Court decision in June that the federal government could not deny benefits to married same-sex couples who live in states that allow same-sex marriage.
A relatively affluent area outside Philadelphia, Montgomery is the state’s third-largest county.