Second lawsuit is filed to block Cherokee lesbian couple's marriage

[davidinalameda]

http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid19537.asp

A new petition has been filed in a Cherokee Nation court challenging the marriage of a lesbian couple less than one week after a tribal court dismissed a lawsuit that had previously held up the couple's union. Kathy Reynolds and Dawn McKinley enjoyed a short-lived victory after a lawsuit, filed by a private citizen, challenging their marriage was dismissed last Wednesday by the tribe's Judicial Appeals Tribunal.

The tribe's highest court ruled that Todd Hembree, who filed the original suit, did not have standing in the case and could not adequately prove he would be harmed by the couple's marriage. On Friday a group of tribal councillors filed a petition challenging the couple's marriage license on the same grounds. The petition is expected to be amended and refiled Tuesday.