MADISON, Wis. — A federal judge on Friday put same-sex marriages in Wisconsin on hold, a week after she struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional, a move that allowed more than 500 couples to wed over the last eight days.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb’s ruling Friday means that gay marriages will end while the appeal from Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is pending. Couples who were in the middle of the five-day waiting period to get a license, which most counties waived, are caught in limbo.

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Gary Jones of Racine, Wis., holds a gay-pride flag in front of the Racine County Courthouse on Friday. The Associated Press

Van Hollen requested Crabb put her ruling on hold, arguing that allowing the marriages while the underlying case was pending created confusion about the legality of those marriages.

Crabb, who held a 30-minute hearing before issuing her written order, hinted strongly that she was likely to halt further marriages because the U.S. Supreme Court had done that in a similar case out of Utah.

But in her order, she expressed mixed feelings about it.

“After seeing the expressions of joy on the faces of so many newly wedded couples featured in media reports, I find it difficult to impose a stay on the event that is responsible for eliciting that emotion, even if the stay is only temporary,” Crabb said in her order. “Same-sex couples have waited many years to receive equal treatment under the law, so it is understandable that they do not want to wait any longer. However, a federal district court is required to follow the guidance provided by the Supreme Court.”

Crabb didn’t issue any orders on how state officials were to implement her initial decision, and amid the uncertainty, nearly every Wisconsin county – 60 of 72 – issued licenses.

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