[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF; press release] on Friday against the state of Indiana challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriages [JURIST backgrounder] and its refusal to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states. The lawsuit, one of three filed this month in attempts to overturn Indiana’s ban on gay marriage, was filed on behalf of 15 plaintiffs [ACLU profiles], including a widow and two children. The plaintiffs claim that they have experienced harm and discrimination as a result of the ban. Indiana does recognize same-sex civil unions, but these unions do not include some additional rights that come with marriage.

Same-sex marriage is one of the most hotly debated topics in the legal community today. Just a week ago four Indiana same-sex couples filed a lawsuit against the state [JURIST report] in the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana seeking to strike down the state’s Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional. Earlier this month four same-sex couples filed a lawsuit in Wyoming state court [JURIST report] challenging the constitutionality of the state’s restriction of marriage to one man and one woman. Also earlier this month a judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin refused to block the state’s ban [JURIST report] on same-sex marriage pending the outcome of a trial. In January six same-sex couples and the Equality Florida Institute filed a lawsuit in Florida [JURIST report] seeking to overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.