
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, September 20, 1993                   TAG: 9309200135
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: SALT LAKE CITY                                LENGTH: Short

AIDS MARRIAGE LAW STRUCK DOWN IN UTAH

A Utah law that invalidated the marriages of people with AIDS was voided by a federal judge at the request of two families and the state itself.

U.S. District Judge Aldon J. Anderson ruled that the 1987 law violated the federal Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The disabilities act says a public entity may not discriminate against a person with a physical or mental impairment limiting major life activities.

"AIDS is such a physical impairment," Anderson wrote in Friday's ruling.

Attorney Brian Barnard sued in July on behalf of two married couples and their children, who would be considered illegitimate if the parents' unions were voided. The women had contracted the virus before their marriages. - Associated Press

by CNB