US

Supreme Court puts hold on gay marriages in Utah

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There will be no more gay marriages in Utah until the state can appeal a federal judge’s ruling striking down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court ordered Monday.

Utah sought an emergency stay from the high court last month, looking to appeal a Dec. 20 decision by District Judge Robert Shelby striking down the state’s 2004 ban on same-sex marriage.

Since Shelby deemed the ban unconstitutional, more than 900 gay couples have wed in the conservative state.

Utah filed its request for a stay with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who handled emergency requests for the 10th Circuit. The Associated Press reports that Sotomayor kicked the case to the entire court.

The hold on gay marriages will reportedly be in effect until the matter is settled in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

NBC News reports that Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said that state lawyers are reviewing the status of same-sex couples that had been married and are in “legal limbo.”

James Magleby, a lawyer for the couples who brought the initial suit against the ban, stressed in a statement that the order was temporary and expressed confidence in a final victory.

“We were confident when we filed the case in 2013. We were confidence when we presented arguments to the District Court, and we remain equally — if not more — confident about our defense of marriage equality before the 10th Circuit,” Magleby said in a statement reported by NBC News.

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