Kansans watch closely as Supreme Court hears gay marriage cases

? Attorneys involved in a federal lawsuit over same-sex marriage in Kansas are moving forward with their case, even as the U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear a group of other cases that could decide the issue once and for all.

The nation’s high court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in four consolidated cases involving gay marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

But a separate Kansas case, which was filed in October, is still pending before U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree, who recently scheduled a pre-trial conference for May 7.

“As far as Crabtree is concerned, it doesn’t matter what Supreme Court is doing. He’s proceeding on the case,” said Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas, a gay rights advocacy group that helped organize the lawsuit.

The Kansas case, Marie vs. Mosier, involves same-sex couples from Douglas and Sedgwick counties who applied for marriage licenses last year and were denied.

Kansas has long had a statute that says the state will only recognize marriages between one man and one woman. In 2005, Kansas voters adopted a constitutional amendment to the same effect.

That measure passed by a 70-30 percent margin statewide, although it failed in Douglas County. Since then, however, the tide of public opinion in Kansas has shifted dramatically.

According to a recent poll by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University, Kansans are more evenly divided on the issue: 49 percent favor same-sex marriage, and 47 percent are opposed.

The same poll also found 60 percent of Kansas would support same-sex marriages on the condition that churches would not be required to perform them.

In November, Crabtree issued a temporary injunction in the Kansas case, ordering court clerks in Douglas and Sedgwick counties to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt appealed Crabtree’s order, but in December, the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, a move that many interpreted as a signal that the court is likely to strike down state bans on same-sex marriages when it rules later this year on the other cases.

Since November, 162 same-sex couples have been issued licenses in those counties: 118 in Sedgwick County and 44 in Douglas County, according to district court clerks.

Some other counties in Kansas have been granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but others have not. But even though some couples have been allowed to wed, the state of Kansas still does not give legal recognition to those marriages.

That means those couples still cannot file jointly on their state income tax returns. And for state employees, Kansas still does not provide spousal benefits such as health insurance to same-sex couples.

Originally, the Kansas case only involved the state’s refusal to issue and record marriage licenses. But in February, the plaintiffs expanded the case to include a challenge to the state’s refusal to recognize same-sex marriages, including those performed legally in other states.

Schmidt’s office is defending the state’s marriage laws but has said the issue can only be resolved with a clear decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.

That could come as early as this summer, when the high court is expected to rule on the four cases being argued Tuesday. And that ruling could come before the Kansas case even goes to trial.