Utah allowing same-sex marriage!

[Cynus]

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57291925-78/ban-judge-sex-court.html.csp

The first same-sex couple to be legally married in my state happen to be friends of a friend of mine. This is huge news. It will probably get appealed but still, woohoo!

[Cole Parker]

And New Mexico just a few days ago!

C

[Cynus]

And New Mexico just a few days ago!

C

I know, it's very exciting.

[Nigel Gordon]

Damm it, we have to wait till next March, well at least it gives one time to sort our something to wear, now all I have to do is get invited to a wedding.

[Lugnutz]

Wear your birthday suit. It goes with everything.

[Nigel Gordon]

Wear your birthday suit. It goes with everything.

No, it is far to wrinkled!

[Rigel]

As I write this on Sunday night, we await Monday morning at 9:00 am (MST) to see if Judge Shelby will offer a stay while his decision is appealed, and if he does not stay the decision, whether the 10th Circuit at large will then decree a stay or not.

The decision to allow same-sex marriage in Utah came as a shock and a bombshell, because none of us had been paying close enough attention to realize that the court case was ripe for decision. I read that there are some 20 or 30 other court cases working their way through US federal and state courts in various stages, but how many others are at the stage where judicial decisions are ready to be made?

I expect other cases will ensure that other states will join Utah within the next few months or perhaps weeks. While the past year was a time when same-sex marriage was extended largely though legislatures and ballots (Washington, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, Hawaii, and Illinois; plus court cases in California [uS Supreme Court], New Jersey [state supreme court], and New Mexico [state supreme court]), the coming year looks more likely to see extension mostly through judicial action. There's the possibility of ballot initiatives in Oregon, Ohio, Arizona, and maybe a couple of other states, but none of that can happen until November election time.

So what other court cases have already had hearings? What cases have hearings scheduled this winter and are likely to be decided by early-blossom-time? Is there any website that has aggregated this information? Many thanks to anyone who can direct me to the data (or perhaps we will have to assemble the list here)...

--Rigel

[E.J.]

The stay has been denied:

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the state of Utah’s request to stop same-sex couples’ marriages during the appeal of the judge’s ruling that started those marriages on Friday.

“Having considered the district court’s decision and the parties’ arguments concerning the stay factors, we conclude that a stay is not warranted,” Judges Jerome Holmes and Robert Bacharach wrote in an order signed by court clerk Elisabeth Shumaker for the court.

The denial means that a Friday decision by Judge Robert Shelby striking down the state’s ban on same-sex couples marrying will remain in place during the appeal of the case, absent a contrary ruling from the Supreme Court — to which Utah officials say they will appeal.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/appeals-court-refuses-to-halt-utah-marriages-for-same-sex-co

The state is appealling to the supreme court

Interim requests of the type that would be filed in this situation would go to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who oversees such requests from the 10th Circuit. She could either decide the matter on her own or refer the matter to the whole court for consideration.