--- description: A federal judge says he will order Ohio's prohibition on recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states unconstitutional by April 14. The state passed an amendment banning gay marriage in 2004 title: Federal Judge Orders Ohio To Recognize Gay Marriages From Out-of-State image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c085d1875ee2186/698688fd55a859982aa801f4/time-a-ohio-gay-marriage-140404.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Gay Marriage](/tag/gay-marriage/) ## Gay Marriage Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Federal Judge Orders Ohio To Recognize Out-of-State Gay Marriages by [Alex Rogers](/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2014 4:52 PM CUT  Attorney Al Gerhardstein, left, stands with several same-sex couples at a news conference, Friday, April 4, 2014, in Cincinnati. Attorney Al Gerhardstein, left, stands with several same-sex couples at a news conference, Friday, April 4, 2014, in Cincinnati.Al Behrman—AP by [Alex Rogers](/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2014 4:52 PM CUT A federal judge in Cincinnati says he will soon issue a ruling ordering Ohio to recognize out-of-state marriages. “I intend to issue a written decision and order by April 14 striking down as unconstitutional under all circumstances Ohio’s ban on recognizing legal same-sex marriages from other states,” says Honorary Timothy S. Black, according to a spokesperson. The announcement comes after civil rights attorneys delivered closing arguments in the matter Friday. A local NBC affiliate [reports](http://www.wlwt.com/news/Judge-to-end-Ohio-ban-on-recognizing-gay-marriage/25321398 "undefined") that the plaintiffs, three lesbian couples, originally sued to place the names of both parents on the birth certificates of their newborns, but later expanded their request. Attorneys for the state argue that Ohio has the right to ban gay marriage, as voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2004 recognizing marriage as the union between one man and one woman. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/49994/ohio-gay-marriage-recognize-out-of-state/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/49994/ohio-gay-marriage-recognize-out-of-state/"},"headline":"Federal Judge Orders Ohio To Recognize Out-of-State Gay Marriages","datePublished":"2014-04-04T16:52:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:08:46.717Z","description":"A federal judge says he will order Ohio's prohibition on recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states unconstitutional by April 14. The state passed an amendment banning gay marriage in 2004","url":"https://time.com/49994/ohio-gay-marriage-recognize-out-of-state/","keywords":["Gay Marriage"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c085d1875ee2186/698688fd55a859982aa801f4/time-a-ohio-gay-marriage-140404.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c085d1875ee2186/698688fd55a859982aa801f4/time-a-ohio-gay-marriage-140404.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ohio gay marriage ban overturned","caption":"Ohio gay marriage ban overturned","creditText":"Al Behrman—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/gay-marriage/","name":"Gay Marriage"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/49994/ohio-gay-marriage-recognize-out-of-state/","name":"Federal Judge Orders Ohio To Recognize Out-of-State Gay Marriages"}}]}] ```