Gay Navy Veteran Sues to be Buried Next to Wife

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A U.S. Navy veteran is suing after the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery refused to allow her to be buried with the ashes of her late wife.

Seventy-four-year-old Madelynn Taylor tried to make advance arrangements last year to have her ashes interred with Jean Mixner at the cemetery. The couple was legally married in California in 2008, but cemetery employees refused her request because Idaho state law doesn't recognize their marriage.

Taylor is represented in the case filed Monday in federal court by the National Center of Lesbian Rights and Boise attorneys Deborah Ferguson and Craig Durham. The legal team successfully sued to overturn Idaho's gay marriage ban earlier this year. That case is currently on appeal before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.