Gay nuptials continue in Utah

Judge rejects hold on same-sex marriages during appeal

SALT LAKE CITY - A federal judge Monday allowed gay marriage to continue in Utah, rejecting a request to put same-sex weddings on hold as the state appeals a decision that has sent couples flocking to county clerk offices for marriage licenses.

Judge Robert Shelby overturned Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage Friday, ruling the voter-approved measure is a violation of gay couples’ constitutional rights. The state then asked him to put a stop to the weddings, but he rejected the request.

Shelby’s ruling is far from the end of the legal wrangling on the topic. The state quickly filed a request with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put gay marriage on hold, and that court could rule by today. The same court, in Denver, likely will hear the full appeal of the case several months from now.

In the meantime, the rush on marriage licenses continues for gay couples around Utah.

Nearly 700 gay couples have obtained marriage licenses since Friday, with most coming in Utah’s most populous county.

People began lining up Sunday night at the Salt Lake County clerk’s office in the hopes of getting licenses amid the uncertainty of the pending ruling. Couples then got married once every few minutes in the lobby to the sound of string music from a violin duet.

They anxiously eyed their cellphones for news on Shelby’s decision, and a loud cheer broke out once word spread that he wouldn’t be blocking weddings. “We feel equal!” one man shouted; his partner called it “this magic happening out of the clear blue.”

Adam Blatter said he was in a panic to get married Monday morning before a judge could halt the issuance of licenses.He and his domestic partner, Joseph Chavez, were elated when it became clear their wait was worthwhile, and they were shocked that it was happening in a state long known as one of the most conservative in the country.

“We expected Utah to be the last place we could get married,” Blatter said.

Even if the 10th Circuit grants a stay, the marriages licenses that already have been issued probably will remain valid, said Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at Virginia’s University of Richmond who has tracked legal battles for gay marriage. It’s not entirely certain, however, because Utah’s situation has unfolded differently from other states, and there’s no direct precedent, he said.

Not all counties were issuing the licenses. In Utah County, one of the most conservative in the state, County Clerk Brian Thompson made a conscious decision to defy the judge’s ruling and not grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Thompson said he wants to see first whether the appeals court grants the stay.

“I totally understand the position I’m in,” he said, “but I have a responsibility as an elected official to proceed with caution.”

The 10th Circuit already has rejected two previous requests from the state because of procedural issues, but it has not yet considered the case on the basis of merits.

Shelby’s decision to overturn Utah’s same-sex marriage ban has drawn attention given the state’s long-standing opposition to gay marriage and its position as headquarters for the Mormon church, which teaches that homosexual activity is a sin. The ruling makes Utah the 18th state where same-sex couples can legally wed.

It’s estimated that nearly two-thirds of Utah’s 2.8 million residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Mormons dominate the state’s legal and political circles.

The Mormon church said Friday that it stands by its support for “traditional marriage” and hopes a higher court validates its belief that marriage is between a man and woman.

Also on Monday, a federal judge ordered Ohio authorities to recognize gay marriages on death certificates, saying the state’s ban on such unions is unconstitutional and that states cannot discriminate against same-sex couples simply because some voters don’t like homosexuality.

Although Judge Timothy Black’s ruling applies only to death certificates, his statements about Ohio’s gay-marriage ban are sweeping, unequivocal and are expected to incite further litigation challenging the law. Ohio’s attorney general said the state will appeal.

Black’s decision stems from a lawsuit in July by two gay Ohio men whose spouses recently died and wanted to be recognized on their death certificates as married. The two couples got married over the summer in states that allow same-sex marriage.

Black said “there is absolutely no evidence that the state of Ohio or its citizens will be harmed” by his ruling but that without it, the harm would be severe for two men who filed the lawsuit because it would strip them of the dignity and recognition given to opposite-sex couples.

Black ordered the state not only to recognize the marriages of the two men who filed the lawsuit on their respective spouses’ death certificate but also to communicate his orders to anyone in the state involved in completing death certificates.

Attorney General Mike DeWine said the state will take its case to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, also based in Cincinnati. He called Monday’s decision “not a huge surprise” given earlier rulings Black made in the case.

“Our job is to defend the Ohio Constitution and state statutes … and that’s what we intend to do,” DeWine said.

Information for this article was contributed by Amanda Lee Myers of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 12/24/2013

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