Amid the huge chaos in the beehive state of Utah over the case seeking stay on same-sex marriage ban, Idaho officials have sought a federal court to put on hold its decision allowing such homosexual marriages in Idaho.
According to the officials, the Court’s go ahead for the gay and lesbion union may lead to disarray in the state.
On Thursday, the Attorneys for Idaho asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the U.S. District Judge Candy Dale’s verdict allowing same-sex marriages from Friday onwards. A decision on the emergency request could likely arrive by late Thursday.
“If the decision is not put on hold, Idaho will experience the same unseemly chaos, confusion, conflict, uncertainty, and spawn of further litigation and administrative actions seen in Utah and, to a lesser extent, Michigan” when hundreds of same-sex couples “‘married’ in contravention” of the states’ marriage laws, Boise lawyer Monte Stewart argued before the court.
So far, 18 states has allowed same sex marriage. With this development, Idaho has become the 19th state.
A federal magistrate judge on Wednesday turned down the request from Idaho’s governor to put same-sex weddings on hold. The development has given Uthans who are fighting against the ban on gay marriages a ray of hope.
U.S. District Magistrate Judge Candy Dale wrote that the appeal is unlikely to succeed so there’s no reason to keep the state from granting marriage licenses to gay couples.
The state and federal courts across the United States is witnessing a legal debate on same-sex marriage ban.
As Utahns await verdict on the lawsuit challenging gay marriage ban, the encouraging development in Idaho has served as a positive indicator for Utah.
The US Supreme Court has stayed a federal district judge’s decision that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry.
The apex court pronounced the terse order without any dissent, suggesting that the judicial system of the state needs more time to deliver a landmark verdict of recognizing a right to gay marriage.
After the judgment, around 1,300 gay couples in Utah moved to get state marriage licenses. But their dreams shattered when the Apex Court halted the lower court’s verdict granting legal status to the same sex marriages.