Weddings, court rulings and confusion are defining a week that started with the U.S. Supreme Court denying appeals from five states seeking to retain their bans on same-sex marriage. Some of the 11 states affected by the denial went ahead with weddings; others are proceeding toward marriage deliberately. Others are putting up a fight.
Another domino fell Tuesday when a federal appeals court in the West overturned marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho, triggering more confusion about when weddings can begin there.
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Here’s a rundown of the most recent developments:
JUSTICE KENNEDY STEPS IN
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Wednesday temporarily blocked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that declared gay marriage legal in Idaho, and later issued an order clarifying that the weddings could begin in Nevada.
Kennedy’s order followed an emergency request from Idaho for an immediate stay on the appeals court ruling. A group fighting to keep Nevada’s ban has since asked the top court to put gay weddings on hold there too.
The delay on gay marriage in Idaho could last just a few days. Kennedy’s order requested a response from the plaintiffs in Idaho’s gay marriage lawsuit by the end of Thursday.
WAITING IN VEGAS
Las Vegas, the land of wedding chapels, is ready for gay marriage. But it must wait at least a while longer.
The city’s Marriage License Bureau was expected to start issuing licenses for same-sex couples at 2 p.m. Wednesday. However, Kennedy’s order put that plan on hold, and clerks in the state were awaiting word on how to proceed.
Las Vegas has been gearing up for gay marriage, with clerks preparing gender-neutral licenses, chapel photographers practicing shooting two brides wearing white gowns, and ordained Elvises ready to officiate.
WEDDING BELLS OTHER STATES?
The Supreme Court’s rejection of gay marriage cases Monday also affected South Carolina and Kansas, which are in the same federal appeals court circuits as the two of the states that had appealed.
On Wednesday, a South Carolina judge approved a same-sex couple’s application for a marriage license despite the state’s constitutional ban against the practice and the attorney general’s pledge to defend it.
South Carolina has a 24-hour waiting period for marriage licenses. Charleston County Probate Judge Irvin Condon said he plans to issue the license to a Charleston County councilwoman and her partner after that time frame unless the move is overruled by the courts.
In Kansas, a judge on Wednesday ordered the state’s most populous county to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Johnson County Chief District Judge Kevin Moriarty said his order was meant to avoid confusion about the legal climate surrounding same-sex marriages. The county is home to affluent Kansas City suburbs, some of which are conservative political strongholds.
KEEPING THE BRAKES APPLIED
In some states affected by Monday’s Supreme Court action, officials are not yet instituting same-sex marriage, saying they think there’s still a gray area. Wyoming’s Republican governor said the state will defend its constitution’s definition of marriage as permissible only between a man and woman.
WAITING ON CINCINNATI
There is growing anticipation for a ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati. A three-judge panel heard arguments two months ago on challenges to gay marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, the biggest hearing of its kind on the issue. Its eventual ruling could help determine when or even whether the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the issue. There has been no indication of a timetable by the 6th Circuit. “They (the judges) appreciate that it’s a very significant case, and they want to get a decision out,” says Pierre Bergeron, a Cincinnati attorney with deep experience in federal appellate cases. “On the other hand, it’s also a very complicated case … and they want to make sure they get it right. So that points to the direction that it may take longer.”
SO, HOW MANY STATES ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE?
Like many other things around same-sex marriage, there’s not a good answer. Before the Supreme Court’s denial, there were 19 states that firmly allowed gay marriage.
The Supreme Court’s action Monday added five states, plus six others that were affected because they were in the same federal circuits that appealed. That would make 30 states allowing gay marriage, but some of them are still trying to block it or haven’t yet instituted mechanisms for weddings.
Idaho and Nevada would have made 32, but Justice Kennedy temporarily blocked the Idaho ruling.
So, how many states allow gay marriage? About 30, give or take a few.
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