Topeka ? The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against Kansas’ ban on same-sex marriage on behalf of two couples who were denied marriage licenses this week.

The lawsuit filed Friday challenges a state law against gay marriage and a provision added to the state constitution in 2005 prohibiting same-sex marriages.

The defendants are court clerks in Douglas and Sedgwick counties, along with the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The agency furnishes marriage license forms and keeps marriage records.

The couples in the lawsuit are Kail Marie and Michelle Brown, of Lecompton, and Kerry Wilks and Donna DiTrani of Wichita.

A Johnson County court office issued a same-sex marriage license Friday, but Attorney General Derek Schmidt asked the Kansas Supreme Court to block such actions.