December 26, 2013
Holdout Utah County To Begin Issuing Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples
Bobby McGuire READ TIME: 1 MIN.
PROVO, Utah - Utah County officials who held out on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples even after a judge overturned a ban say they will now offer licenses to all eligible applicants.
Utah County Clerk/Auditor Bryan Thompson issued a statement Thursday saying the decision comes after an appeals court denied a motion from the state to stay U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby's ruling.
Thompson says he's received the clarifications he'd been seeking.
Utah County was one of a handful that had been refusing licenses to gay couples even after Shelby ruled Friday that a ban was unconstitutional.
On Monday, a lesbian couple filed a lawsuit against Utah County because of its refusal to issue them a marriage license, but Thompson said he was remaining steadfast against giving up any licenses to any same-sex couples.
On Tuesday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request from the state to halt same-sex weddings while Utah appealed the district court's ruling.