New Orleans Federal Court hears same-sex marriage case today.

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Should Louisiana's government recognize a same-sex marriage that is sanctioned in another state? It's a question that a federal judge in New Orleans will be asked to consider Wednesday morning, when attorneys on both sides of the national debate argue whether a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision requires Louisiana to recognize the marriages.

The heart of the issue is the high court's decision in United States v. Windsor, a New York case. Justices ruled 5-4 that the federal government must recognize same-sex marriages from states that allow such unions.

Attorneys for six same-sex couples in Louisiana and the advocacy group Forum for Equality Louisiana Inc. sued the state last year. They argue that Louisiana must recognize their unions under the Windsor decision. Attorneys for Louisiana disagree, saying that in its Windsor decision, the high court affirmed states' rights to define marriage, and that Louisiana has defined it as being between a woman and a man.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman must interpret Windsor here. With no facts in dispute, Feldman, appointed by President Ronald Regan, must address only the question of law. In legal terms, both sides have asked for partial summary judgments.

The plaintiffs aren't asking Feldman to order Louisiana to legalize same-sex marriages. Rather, they want the judge to strike down a 1999 Louisiana law and a constitutional amendment that voters approved in 2004. Those laws define marriage as being between a man and a woman and forbid the state to recognize any other union as a marriage.

At stake is whether Louisiana should allow same-sex couples to file joint income tax returns, to have their names appear on birth certificates of children or to adopt children. Three of the six couples suing Louisiana are raising children together but may not be recognized as two-parent households, according to their court pleadings. They have different tax burdens than marriages involving men and women. They have different inheritance laws and are relegated to the "unstable position of being in a second-tier marriage," New Orleans attorney Scott Spivey wrote for the plaintiffs.

"You can't treat two groups differently without justification, and the state has not offered valid justifications to do so," Chris Otten, chairman-elect of Forum for Equality Louisiana Inc. said Tuesday. "Really it's about a question of legal and social fairness, not just for the couples involved but for the children."

Louisiana, on the other hand, argues that unmarried couples are free to arrange their affairs by contract, to co-own property and to will property to each other. The high court in its Windsor decision reaffirmed the states' "historic and essential authority to define the marital relation," a brief filed on behalf of the state says.

"Windsor thus plainly teaches that states are authorized to determine the shape of marriage, and -- whether their citizens decided to shape it as New York did in 2011 or as Louisiana did in 2004 -- they act rationally in doing so," according to the state's pleadings.

Some states have used that authority to adopt same-sex marriages, but most have not. Louisiana is among the states that have not. Louisiana, in its pleadings, questions whether the decision rests with voters in the respective states or the federal courts.

"It seems clear to Louisiana, from the Windsor opinion, that forcing the states to recognize same-sex marriage would overrule the Windsor decision," said Kyle Duncan, the attorney whom Louisiana hired this year to defend its position on same-sex marriage.

Louisiana isn't alone in the debate. Since the Windsor decision, almost every state that doesn't recognize same-sex marriages has seen lawsuits. As of Tuesday, at least 12 federal courts have struck down state laws, Otten said.

Twenty jurisdictions -- 19 states and Washington D.C. -- recognize same-sex marriages. They include Oregon and Pennsylvania, which have decided not to appeal judges' rulings in their lawsuits, Otten said. He called it "a quickly evolving" legal matter.

Duncan, a special assistant attorney general who'll argue Louisiana's case Wednesday, said the state hopes Feldman does not follow the other federal jurisdictions. "Our view is, those courts are quite fundamentally misreading the Windsor decision," Duncan said.

Feldman has received 23 amicus briefs from parties with interest on one side of the argument or the other. Among them is the city of New Orleans, which weighed in on the side of the same-sex couples by saying the city recognizes domestic partnerships and allows its employees to extend their municipal benefits to their partners.

"Indeed, as expressly set forth in the New Orleans Municipal Code, the city has an interest in strengthening and supporting all caring, committed and responsible family forms," city attorney Sharonda Williams wrote in the brief.

The American Military Partner Association and OutServe-SLDN Inc., which helps gay and lesbian people who are kicked out of the armed forces because of their sexual orientation, says in its brief that a "patchwork" of conflict among states' recognition of same-sex marriage undermines national security. "For many married gay and lesbian couples, the prospect of moving to a state where their marriage would be ignored and dignity affronted will be too high a price to pay for joining or staying in the military," the groups wrote.

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell initially was the named defendant in the suit, but Feldman dismissed him in November under the sovereign immunity claim. In his place, the plaintiffs named Secretary Tim Barfield of the Louisiana Department of Revenue, Secretary Kathy Kliebert of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and Devin George, state registrar and center director at the health and hospitals department.

The same-sex couples who sued the state are:

John Robicheaux and Derek Penton, who live in New Orleans and were married in Iowa on Sept. 23, 2012.
Courtney and Nadine Blanchard, a Raceland couple who were married in Iowa on Aug. 30, 2013.
Nick Van Sickels and Andrew Bond, who live in New Orleans and were married in Washington D.C. on Dec. 28, 2012.
Jacqueline and Lauren Brettner of New Orleans, who married in New York on Feb. 14, 2012.
Henry Lambert and Carey Bond, who live in New Orleans and were married in New York in Oct. 29, 2011.
Havard Scott and Sergio March Prieto of Shreveport, who and were married in Vermont on July 9, 2010.

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