Marriage Licenses Issued to Same-Sex Couples in Idaho - East Idaho News
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Marriage Licenses Issued to Same-Sex Couples in Idaho

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Thinkstock 101514 SameSexMarriage?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1413422099025Ivonne Wierink/Hemera/Thinkstock(BOISE, Idaho) — Same-sex couples in Idaho began receiving marriage licenses on Wednesday, after a federal appeals court ordered the state to issue licenses to same-sex couples.

The Idaho Statesman reports that Gov. Butch Otter and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden ended their opposition to the appeals court ruling on Tuesday. The appeals court had overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriages on Oct. 7. However, the following day, Gov. Otter appealed to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy to stay the ruling.

Kennedy initially issued the stay, preventing the appeals court ruling from going into effect until the state could determine a course of action, the Statesman reports. After receiving arguments from attorneys from both the same-sex marriage attorneys and the state, the Supreme Court lifted the stay.

Gov. Otter said on Monday that he would continue to challenge the order. On Tuesday, however, he issued a new statement, according to the Statesman, that said while he still felt “the federal courts are mistaken in abandoning the sanctity of traditional marriage and in undermining the will of Idaho voters and each state’s right to define marriage,” he would respect the rule of law. Also on Tuesday, Wasden instructed all of the state’s counties to comply beginning Wednesday morning.


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