Reynolds and McKinley
Marriage Certificate obtained in May 2004; Successfully defended in 2004, 2005, and 2006; Cherokee Nation’s Attorney General issued favorable opinion in December 2016
NCLR represented Kathy Reynolds and Dawn McKinley, a same-sex couple who are members of the Cherokee Nation. In May 2004, Reynolds and McKinley obtained a marriage certificate from the Cherokee Nation and married shortly thereafter. There were three separate challenges to this marriage in 2004, 2005, and 2006, all of which NCLR defended successfully, and on 12/9/2016 the Cherokee Nation’s Attorney General issued an opinion ruling that the nation’s marriage ban is unconstitutional under the Cherokee Nation Constitution. As a result, Kathy and Dawn were the first married same-sex couple in the Cherokee nation.
