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| Two men hold hands while walking on Castro Street in San Francisco, Thursday, June 27, 2013. The Supreme Court issued rulings Wednesday that struck down a provision of a federal law that denies federal benefits to married gay couples and also cleared the way for state laws that recognize marriage equality. |
SAN FRANCISCO
(AP) -- A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for the state
of California to immediately resume issuing marriage licenses to
same-sex couples after a 4 1/2-year freeze.
The
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order saying it has
dissolved a stay it imposed on gay marriages while a lawsuit challenging
the state's voter-approved ban on such unions worked its way through
the courts.
Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for San
Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, said city officials were
preparing to let couples marry right away.
Just
minutes after the appeals court issued its order, the two lead
plaintiffs in the case were standing in line at San Francisco City Hall
to get a marriage license. They planned to wed at 4:15 p.m., with state
Attorney General Kamala Harris officiating, according to the American
Foundation for Equal Rights, which brought the lawsuit.
"On my way to SF City Hall. Let the wedding bells ring," Harris tweeted after the 9th Circuit issued its order.
The
Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that the sponsors of California's
voter-approved gay marriage ban lacked authority to defend Proposition 8
in court once Harris and Gov. Jerry Brown refused to do so.
The
decision lets stand a trial judge's declaration that the ban violates
the civil rights of gay Californians and cannot be enforced.
Under
Supreme Court rules, the losing side in a legal dispute has 25 days to
ask the high court to rehear the case. The court said earlier this week
that it would not finalize its ruling in the Proposition 8 dispute until
after that time had elapsed.
It was not immediately clear whether the appeals court's action would be halted by the high court.
