Deal proposed regarding gay marriage

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

The fate of 27 same-sex couples who married before a judge struck down the state’s gay-marriage ban could be resolved through a legal settlement.

Their marriages would be recognized under the proposed deal.

But their legal anniversary would move to May 20, 2014, the day Pennsylvania’s gay-marriage ban was overturned.

The couples married with licenses issued by rogue Montgomery County official Bruce Hanes.

The plan involves only the couples filing suit. Dozens of other marriages performed before the state law changed may still be in dispute.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a judge must still approve of the plan.

Hanes is meanwhile appealing a state court decision that said he lacked the power to issue the licenses. He considers the gay-marriage ban unconstitutional.