Easton Couple: Same Sex Marriage Ban Forcing Us Out of PA

An Easton couple who had been working to mount a lawsuit against Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage now says that ban will force them to leave the city.

Timothy Hare and Earl Ball say Easton will become their "secondary residence," as they look for a place in New York City, where "our marriage is now respected by federal, state and local law."

In an interview with Patch after the Supreme Court's DOMA ruling earlier this summer, Ball and Hare said they were seeking other plaintiffs for a lawsuit to overturn Pennsylvania's same sex marriage ban.

But even then, the couple said they had been going back and forth on whether to leave the city for a place where their marriage was legal. (They married in Canada 10 years ago, and have been together since 1976.)

"This ban of our marriage is not projected to be struck down for too many distant years, most likely past our own expiration date," Hare wrote in a Facebook post.

The two are longtime Easton residents with pretty deep roots in the city. Ball helped craft with the city's anti-discrimination ordinance in 2006. Hare fought to save landmark city buildings like the Quadrant from the demolition in the 1970s. You can often find Ball playing accordion at the Easton Farmers Market.

This sense of geographic disillusionment isn't just isolated to Ball and Hare. 

As NBC News put it last month, couples in many states like Pennsylvania "experience similar frustration: an easily traversed body of water separating them from a slew of rights and recognition."

Pennsylvania has had a law outlawing same-sex marriage since 1996. The ACLU has filed a suit to overturn that ban.