Gay Marriage Officially Legal Now in 30 States

Getting there.

The [Supreme Court’s] stunning decision not to hear any of the seven marriage cases presented eliminates same-sex marriage bans in Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Utah and Oklahoma.

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A denial of a petition to the high court, as happened Monday, leaves intact the lower appellate court decisions that struck down the five state bans. Same-sex marriages began within hours in Virginia, Wisconsin and Indiana. Utah officials, who’d been vigorously defending the state’s ban, likewise capitulated after the court’s decision. Oklahoma began issuing marriage license to same-sex couples Monday.

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Before the court’s decision Monday, 19 states and the District of Columbia had permitted same-sex marriages. With the decision, 30 states as well as D.C. will permit same-sex marriages.

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Practically speaking, the high court’s decision also touches Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming. Those states had banned same-sex marriage but are part of circuits where appellate courts have ruled, so they’re covered by the respective appellate courts’ reasoning.

“I think it might take a little paperwork, or a court order,” Wolfson said of same-sex marriage in the covered states, but “this opens the door.”

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A decision is still pending by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard challenges Aug. 6 to same-sex marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. A highly regarded George W. Bush administration appointee, Judge Jeffrey Sutton, is widely considered to be the swing vote in the case.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada, after an oral argument Sept. 8.

  McClatchy