Federal judge tosses marriage ban

PALMER — When they completed the form Monday afternoon, Ginger and Sheri Ameigh wordlessly high-fived each other and left the clerk of court’s office.

Relative to the amount of ink spilled on the subject during the decades-long national debate, what took place at least three times at the Palmer Courthouse Monday happened without long lines, protests or rallies, and was relatively subdued. To the Ameighs, it was simply an acknowledgement of what they had already shared for 15 years: a family.

“We just want to be treated like everyone else,” Sheri said. “It’s just a huge sense of relief. I have a daughter, and she refers to Ginger as her stepmom.”

The Ameighs — Ginger legally changed her name some years ago, the closest thing to a legal marriage they could obtain until Sunday’s ruling in U.S. District Court overturning the state’s gay marriage ban — say their upcoming officially marriage was just the beginning of a long process. The federal court’s ruling came at the brink of a decision the couple was planning to make.

“We were actually thinking about traveling to New York State to get married,” Sheri said. “I have family there.”

Now that they’re headed for matrimony, the couple faces a long list of legal maneuvers. They have to fix each other’s wills. They’ll have to look for health insurance (neither of their insurance companies will allow them to add the other).

It’s a struggle that other Alaskan gay couples, like former Palmer City councilman Kevin Brown and his husband, Spencer Murphy, understand. The pair married in Seattle Sept. 21, 2013, after deciding they couldn’t wait for Alaska’s legal procedures to catch up with love, Brown said.

“We had to leave Alaska in order to get married,” he said. “We knew when we went home it wasn’t recognized — certainly by friends — but not by the state.”

Brown and Murphy will have to revise their wills again (their Washington marriage is now recognized by the same decision) and fix many of the numerous documents related to their marriage. Despite the tedium, the process is joyous, Brown said.

“For us, there is absolutely nothing that can be called frustrating about it,” he said. “This is too much good for too many people to be called frustrating.”

While the couple likely won’t hold a second ceremony in Alaska, they are working to hold a large-scale wedding party in December, both for themselves and other same-sex newly weds.

While their relationship — they couple has been together 14 years, Brown said — is a little old-hat, the news is still poignant.

“People have asked me after we got married ‘Did it feel different? What did it really change?’” he said. “I will admit, reading the news yesterday on my phone on vacation in Las Vegas, I cried.”

At least one other couple also was excited. Janet Fahrni, who filed for marriage to Misty Humphrey, gave a one-word answer when asked what the marriage meant for her.

“Finally!” she said.

The couple of 25 years plans a quiet ceremony at the courthouse. Like the Ameighs, Fahrni and Humphrey, too, had considered going out of the state to be married, particularly when Janet’s dad suffered a health issue, and they could have obtained cheaper fairs by flying together than they could individually.

“We talked about it, but we decided that we’ll wait for Alaska,” she said. “We wanted to get married where our friends are and things like that.”

The news comes as a spokeswoman for the Department of Law said the state had filed an appeal with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court last week struck down bans in Idaho and Nevada, acting on the basis of both a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act gay marriage ban in 2013, as well as the Supreme Court’s decision to allow lower court rulings overturning gay marriage bans to stand, according to widespread reporting on the issue. The decisions mean gay marriage is now legal in 35 states.

While the Ninth Circuit Court still has the power to issue an injunction halting gay marriage in the state, Fahrni said she was optimistic the ban would eventually be overruled permanently, even if it is delayed.

“I don’t think it’ll be reversed,” she said. “It will just be no big deal anymore.”

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com.