Pennsylvania county to issue same-sex marriage licenses despite ban

Officials in Montgomery County have agreed to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, though the state has a ban on same-sex marriage.

The county’s register of wills, D. Bruce Hanes, said he wants to come down “on the right side of history and the law.”

A lesbian couple contacted him last week to apply for a marriage license. The two women later changed their minds after talking to the American Civil Liberties Union. They feared their license would be invalidated. But Hanes is still prepared to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

“Had the couple sought the license today, I would have issued it and wished them all the freedom, independence, happiness and rights that our commonwealth’s Constitution purports to grant to them,” Hanes said.