News
Gay couples sue Utah to recognize their marriages
ACLU files lawsuit on behalf of four couples who wed


Elenor Heyborne (on left) and Marina Gomberg; Matt Barazza, Tony Milner (left) and Jesse (center) are suing Utah to recognize their marriages. (Photos courtesy of the American Civil Liberties Union)
For Matt Barazza, government recognition of his marriage in Utah is important not only to him and his spouse, Tony Milner, but also to the four-year-old child whom they’ve raised since his birth.
After marrying in their home state of Utah on Dec. 20 ā the first day same-sex marriage came to Utah ā the couple submitted paperwork for a second-parent adoption of the child, Jesse, and received a hearing date of Jan. 10. But plans changed after Gov. Gary Herbert announced the state wouldn’t recognize Utah same-sex marriages in the wake of a stay on the weddings from the U.S. Supreme Court.
As a consequence, the judge presiding over the request for second-parent adoption pushed back the hearing to Jan. 31, and Barazza and Milner elected to join a proposed lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union to ensure Utah would recognize the more than 1,300 gay weddings performed in the state.
“That’s the primary reason for us filing the lawsuit at this point was to have the Utah courts make a decision and recognize that our marriage is legal, so that we can go forward with the second-parent adoption and try and get the protections that we can for our son,” Barazza told the Washington Blade on Monday.
While Barazza, 38, an attorney, and Milner, 33, a director of a non-profit that serves homeless families, are both raising Jesse in Salt Lake City, only Barazza is recognized as the adoptive parent because under Utah law, only one of the two was able to adopt the child. The couple also legally married in D.C. in 2010, but elected to do so again when same-sex marriage came to Utah so they could wed in their home state.
But with their marriage no longer recognized by Utah, Barazza said he lives in constant fear of what might happen because of the lack of legal recognition between his partner and their son.
“You fear the worst case scenario always,” Barazza said. “As the one who’s the legal parent, if anything were to happen to me, it would leave [Jesse] basically an orphan as far as the law is concerned…All that would be in spite of my husband Tony being there from Day One and being just as much a parent as I am.”
On Dec. 20, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled that Amendment 3, Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage, was unconstitutional as a result of a federal lawsuit seeking marriage equality, allowing gay couples to wed in the state immediately. But upon the request from the state, the U.S. Supreme Court placed a stay on the weddings on Jan. 9 pending appeal of the lawsuit. The next day, Herbert said the state wouldn’t recognize the same-sex marriages of couples that married in Utah before the stay was in place.
Although U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder would later announce the marriages would be recognized for federal purposes, as it stands now the couples will have to wait for the outcome of the federal lawsuit ā which could take years ā to find out whether the state will recognize their marriage.
Barazza and Milner are one of four couples seeking recognition of their marriage from Utah after having wed in the 18 days when same-sex marriages were legal there. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in state court by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Utah and the Salt Lake City-based firmĀ Strindberg & Scholnick, LLC.
The 32-page complaint alleges Herbert’s decision not to recognize the marriages violates both the due process clause under Utah’s Ā constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, it seeks relief under declaratory judgment and Rule 65B, which allows individuals in Utah to seek extraordinary relief against wrongful use of public authority.
“By placing recognition of their marriages ‘on hold,’ the State of Utah has placed the legal status of plaintiffsā families, including their children, in legal limbo and created uncertainty as to their rights and status in virtually all areas of their lives,” the complaint states.
Joshua Block, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT project, said the goal of the lawsuit is to achieve a result similar to what the California Supreme Court decided after state voters in 2008 approved Proposition 8.
“What happened in Prop 8 is they said if you got married before the amendment went into effect, the marriages are valid and continue to be recognized in California, but no new marriages could happen,” Block said.
In addition toĀ Barazza and Milner, the other plaintiff couples in the lawsuit are Marine Gomberg and Elenor Heyborne of Salt Lake City;Ā JoNell Evans and Stacia Ireland of West Valley, Utah; and Donald Johnson and Fritz Schultz of Sandy, Utah.
After being together for nine years, Gomberg, 29, told the Blade she and Heyborne, 28, wanted to wed immediately on Dec. 20 upon learning that a court has instituted marriage equality in Utah. The couple held a commitment ceremony in 2009, but weren’t legally married until last month.
“There was a huge sense of immediacy because this was something we waited so long for, and we didn’t know how long the window would be,” Gomberg said.
Soon after, Heyborne, a state employee who works in communications, learned that Utah would no longer recognize their union and she sent a text message to Gomberg, who also works in communications, to inform her of the news.
“Obviously, this put all our hopes and dreams to have a kid on hold because the state of Utah doesn’t recognize same-sex adoption, so we would have to go out of state, establish residency somewhere, and then come back here,” Heyborne said. “When we got married, we kind of thought that that was a hoop we would not have to jump through now that we were legally married.”
Marty Carpenter, a Herbert spokesperson, said the governor is standing by his decision not to recognize the same-sex marriages performed in Utah.
“Gov. Herbert has said throughout this process that his responsibility is to follow the law,” Carpenter said. “That is exactly what the administration is doing and we respect the rights of those who disagree to take their grievances before a judge.”
Although state officials announced they’re not recognizing the marriage, the Utah Tax Commission issued guidance last week saying that same-sex couples married in 2013 can be recognized as such for tax purposes for that year if they filed federal returns as married.
Block said the new lawsuit is completely independent of the existing marriage equality lawsuit, known as Kitchen v. Herbert, which brought the same-sex marriages to the state and is pending before the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In the event that court or the U.S. Supreme Court rules that state bans on same-sex marriages like Amendment 3 are constitutional, Block said the outcome wouldn’t affect gay couples married in Utah if the new lawsuit succeeds because “they had vested rights that Ā can’t be taken away just like if Prop 8 had been upheld as constitutional.”
“But then, even if Kitchen is affirmed on appeal,” Block added, “and the marriage amendments need to stop being enforced again, that doesn’t really solve the problem of legal implications of what happens over the course of people’s lives of the course of this year and next year until the Kitchen litigation comes to an end.”
Block was unable to predict the length of time it would take for the new lawsuit to be resolved, but noted the case was filed before state district court and said he expected requests soon for summary judgment before the Utah Supreme Court.
Each of the plaintiff couples that spoke to the Blade was optimistic about the lawsuit moving forward.Ā Barazza said he’s “really confident” the lawsuit will succeed based on growing public support for marriage equality.
“Public opinion is going in that direction, and I think the courts are recognizing that,” Barazza said. “Also, just with the fundamental fairness and equality as being recognized under the Constitution, I think that is where the country’s headed.”
Block was also optimistic because he said Utah has “a long history” of protecting vested rights under its constitution, such as when the court rebuffed the state legislature’s attempt to change a person’s right to sue under tort law.
“That’s very similar to your legal obligations and rights that come with a marriage license and recognition,” Block said. “Once you got married, you accrued vested rights and all the legal implications of that marriage. And under those principles, I think this right is more important than all the other vested rights that have been protected.”
U.S. Federal Courts
Federal judge blocks Trump passport executive order
State Department can no longer issue travel documents with ‘X’ gender markers

A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of a group of transgender and nonbinary people who have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s executive order that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers.
The Associated Press notes U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston issued a preliminary injunction against the directive. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the plaintiffs, in a press release notes Kobick concluded Trump’s executive order “is likely unconstitutional and in violation of the law.”
“The preliminary injunction requires the State Department to allow six transgender and nonbinary people to obtain passports with sex designations consistent with their gender identity while the lawsuit proceeds,” notes the ACLU. “Though todayās court order applies only to six of the plaintiffs in the case, the plaintiffs plan to quickly file a motion asking the court to certify a class of people affected by the State Department policy and to extend the preliminary injunction to that entire class.”
Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2021 announced the State Department would begin to issue gender-neutral passports and documents for American citizens who were born overseas.
Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an āXā gender marker. Zzyym in October 2021 received the first gender-neutral American passport.
The State Department policy took effect on April 11, 2022. Trump signed his executive order shortly after he took office in January.
Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.
āThis ruling affirms the inherent dignity of our clients, acknowledging the immediate and profound negative impact that the Trump administration’s passport policy would have on their ability to travel for work, school, and family,ā said ACLU of Massachusetts Legal Director Jessie Rossman after Kobick issued her ruling.
āBy forcing people to carry documents that directly contradict their identities, the Trump administration is attacking the very foundations of our right to privacy and the freedom to be ourselves,” added Rossman. “We will continue to fight to rescind this unlawful policy for everyone so that no one is placed in this untenable and unsafe position.ā
District of Columbia
Gay Menās Chorus of Washington to celebrate Spring Affair honorees
‘Their work inspires our music and deepens our mission’

For 44 years, the Gay Menās Chorus of Washington (GMCW) has served as a powerful voice for love, unity, and pride among Washingtonās LGBTQ community and its allies. Since its first performance in 1981āat the opening of the National Gay Task Forceās Washington office (later becoming the National LGBTQ Task Force)āGMCW has built a politically engaged and culturally significant legacy as one of the nationās foremost LGBTQ performing arts organizations.
As its music and mission evolved, GMCW deepened its involvement in supporting LGBTQ individuals and allies alike. In 2004, the chorus launched its first Spring Affair fundraiser. This annual event not only generates financial support for the inclusive choral group, but also honors individuals and organizations in the Washington community who exemplify GMCWās mission of unity, equity, and empowerment through music.
Each year at the Spring Affair gala, the chorus honors one community leader, one external organization, and one GMCW member. For the 2025 gala, GMCW will recognize Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, Atlas Performing Arts Center, and GMCW member Keygan Miller.
āThese honorees remind us why we sing,ā said Thea Kano, artistic director of the Gay Menās Chorus of Washington, DC, in an email. āIn moments when our community has needed strength, theyāve offered hope. Whether itās a brave voice from the pulpit, a tireless advocate for our youth, or an organization that opens its doors to every storyāeach has chosen to lead with love, truth, and courage. Their work inspires our music and deepens our mission.ā
GMCW will honor Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the first woman elected to lead the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, as its 2025 individual award recipient. A longtime champion of equity and inclusion, Bishop Budde gained national prominence during the Inaugural Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral, where she spoke directly to newly sworn-in President Donald Trump.
āHave mercy, Mr. President,ā she implored, lifting the hopes of the most vulnerable Americans targeted by Trumpās policiesāparticularly LGBTQ and immigrant communities. Her bold words signaled to the nation that she remains a genuine and outspoken voice for justice, unity, and truth, inspiring compassion and faith within and beyond her religious community.
GMCW will present the Harmony Award for an Organization to the Atlas Performing Arts Center, located in the historic H Street, N.E. corridor. In 2024 alone, Atlas hosted more than 400 events and provided $1.6 million in free and discounted tickets, arts education, community programming, and space use. Through this work, Atlas has amplified āartistic voices that reflect the full diversity of our community.ā
The center has long partnered with GMCW, offering space for open mic nights, cabarets, GenOUT Chorus events like the Youth Summit, and even memorial services such as that for Bobby T. Boaz. Atlas exemplifies GMCWās mission of storytelling, equity, and civic connection through programs like the INTERSECTIONS Festival and City at Peace.
āWe are absolutely thrilled and deeply honored that the Atlas Performing Arts Center has been named a recipient of the GMCW Harmony Award! This recognition is a powerful affirmation of our commitment to uplifting voices, fostering inclusive creative expression, and building a space where everyone feels seen, heard, and celebrated,ā said Jarrod Bennett, Executive Director of the Atlas Performing Arts Center.
āAt the Atlas, our mission is rooted in the belief that the arts are for everyoneāand that through performance, dialogue, and community, we can help shape a more just, compassionate world. To be acknowledged by the Gay Menās Chorus of Washington, DCāan organization that has long stood at the forefront of championing equality and advancing the well-being of the LGBTQ+ communityāis a profound and humbling honor. We continue to be inspired by GMCWās work and are proud to stand alongside them in this shared vision. Thank you, GMCW, for this beautiful recognition. We carry it forward with gratitude and renewed energy for the work ahead.ā
Finally, GMCW will honor Keygan Miller, a chorus member since 2017, for their leadership, advocacy, and commitment to equity both onstage and off. Within GMCW, Miller served as Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, led conversations to expand trans inclusion, authored the āDay Oneā pledge, and played a critical role in shaping inclusive programming.
Outside the chorus, Miller serves as Director of Public Training for The Trevor Project, a national nonprofit focused on crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ youth under 25. They previously worked as an Advocacy Manager at the Trevor Project, where they championed policies protecting LGBTQ+ youth at every level of government.
As GMCW continues its mission to uplift and unite through music, the organization encourages new voices to join its ranks. GMCW welcomes all singersāregardless of gender identity or sexual orientationāwho can sing in the lower vocal registers.
The 2025 Spring Affair Gala will take place on May 17, 2025, at The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. This annual benefit supports GMCWās artistic and educational programming. For tickets, audition information, and more, visit GMCW.org.
Congress
Goodlander endorses Pappas’s Senate bid
Announcement puts gay congressman on the path to securing his party’s nomination

U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) on Thursday announced she will not run to represent her state in the U.S. Senate, endorsing gay U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas’s (D-N.H.) bid for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, putting him on the path to secure the Democratic nomination.
“We are in the fight of our lifetimes right now, of a moment of real crisis and challenge,” she said. “I feel humbled and grateful to so many people across our state who have encouraged me to take a look at the U.S. Senate, and after a lot of thought and conversations with people I love and people I respect and people who I had never met before, who I work for in this role right now, I’ve decided that I’m running for re election in the House of Representatives.”
When asked by a reporter from the ABC affiliate station in New Hampshire whether she would endorse Pappas, Goodlander said, “Yes. Chris Pappas has been amazing partner to me in this work and for many years. And I really admire him. I have a lot of confidence in him.”
She continued, “He and I come to this work, I think with a similar set of values, we also have really similar family stories. Our families both came to New Hampshire over 100 years ago from the very same part of northern Greece. And the values that he brings to this work are ones that that I really, really admire. So I’m proud to support him, and I’m really excited to be working with him right now because we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Today in Salem @MaggieG603 tells @WMUR9 she is not running for U.S. Senate & endorses @ChrisPappasNH #NHPolitics #NHSen #NH02 #WMUR pic.twitter.com/W2CMrhRuIC
— Adam Sexton (@AdamSextonWMUR) April 17, 2025
“Maggie Goodlander has dedicated her career to service, and we can always count on her to stand up to powerful interests and put people first,” Pappas said in a post on X. “I’m so grateful to call her my friend and teammate, and Iām proud to support her re-election and stand with her in the fights ahead.”
Earlier this month, former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, announced he would not enter the Senate race, strengthening the odds that Democrats will retain control of Shaheen’s seat.
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