Couples in Tax Case Weigh in on Kan. Gay Marriage Case

Two married gay couples suing for the right to file joint Kansas income tax returns have filed a brief weighing in on another gay marriage case.

Attorney David Brown says the tax case pending in Shawnee County District Court is affected by a case before the Kansas Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the Kansas' attorney general asked the Supreme Court to block same-sex marriage licenses after the state's most populous county issued one.

The Kansas Constitution bans gay marriage. But Johnson County Chief Judge Kevin Moriarty noted in ordering licenses to be issued to same-sex couples that the U.S. Supreme Court had cleared the way for an expansion of the unions.

Brown says that if Kansas' same-sex marriage ban is overturned, the state would have to recognize his clients' marriages.