A gay couple from Wyoming are representing themselves in a federal lawsuit they filed Aug. 13, challenging that state’s law, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. In what legal scholars consider the first challenge to the gay marriage ban in Wyoming, David Shupe-Roderick and Ryan W. Dupree assert that the Laramie County Clerk’s Office violated their constitutional rights when it denied them a marriage license earlier this month. They are now requesting that U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson order the state to suspend the discriminatory law that prevents gays and lesbians from marrying.
Shupe-Roderick and Dupree have decided to represent themselves, because they cannot afford an attorney and have not yet found counsel who will argue the case pro bono. Shupe-Roderick says he will use the knowledge he gained while completing his degree in criminal justice and his experience as an intern with the American Civil Liberties Union.
“If I have to do this on my own, I will, because it’s a cause I believe in,” Shupe-Roderick told the Casper Star-Tribune. “I think it’s time that Wyoming lives up to its title. You know they call themselves the Equality State? Well, they’re not so equal.”
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