July 11, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

PHILADELPHIA – Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane announced today that she will not defend Gov. Corbett and the Secretary of Health in the recent lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's ban on marriages of same-sex couples. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, ACLU national, and volunteer counsel from the law firm of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin Schiller filed a federal lawsuit on July 9 on behalf of 10 couples, the teenaged daughters of one couple, and one widow. The case is Whitewood v. Corbett.

"We are pleased that the attorney general recognizes what we have long known – that Pennsylvania's ban on marriage for same-sex couples is indefensible," said Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. "We look forward to continuing the fight to make sure that one day every Pennsylvanian will be free to marry the person he or she loves."

"The attorney general should be applauded for taking such a strong, principled stand in favor of the freedom to marry," said Mark Aronchick of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin Schiller. "Pennsylvanians should be proud that their highest law enforcement official is standing up for their rights, for the rights of their children and for a just society."