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What’s happening where? The latest developments in marriage equality…

What’s happening where? The latest developments in marriage equality…
Jefferson Ruck, right, and Thomas Topovski react as they hear they can get a marriage license at the Marriage License Bureau Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, in Las Vegas. The two were one of the first few couples to get a same-sex marriage license in Las Vegas.
Jefferson Ruck, right, and Thomas Topovski react as they hear they can get a marriage license at the Marriage License Bureau Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, in Las Vegas. The two were one of the first few couples to get a same-sex marriage license in Las Vegas. John Locher, AP

Updated: 9:00 p.m. EDT

Weddings, court rulings and confusion defined a week that started with the U.S. Supreme Court denying appeals from five states (Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indian and Wisconsin) seeking to retain their bans on same-sex marriage, followed by a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturning bans in Idaho and Nevada.

Here’s a rundown of the most recent developments, and on how the U.S. went from 19 to 29 states with marriage equality:

IDAHO, NORTH CAROLINA LEGAL OBSTACLES FALL

Legal obstacles to same-sex marriage have fallen in Idaho and North Carolina.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order late Friday that clears the way for same-sex marriages in conservative Idaho. Gay rights supporters are cheering in Boise as state officials were trying to determine when weddings might take place.

Moments later, a federal judge in North Carolina has struck down the state’s gay marriage ban, opening the way for the first same-sex weddings in the state to begin immediately.

The ruling follows Monday’s announcement by the U.S. Supreme Court that it would not hear any appeals of cases before the 4th Circuit Court, which has jurisdiction over North Carolina.

GOING TO THE CHAPEL

Gay couples in Las Vegas cheered at the marriage license bureau when days of anticipation became reality and the county clerk began granting same-sex partners the right to wed shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday. About 430 miles north, Kristy Best and Wednesday Smith became the first same-sex couple in the state to get a license about 3 p.m. Thursday.

Dayvin Bartolome, right, kisses his husband Daniel Carroll as they pose for their wedding photos at the Vegas Weddings chapel Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, in Las Vegas. Thursday was the first day same-sex marriages were allowed in Nevada.
Dayvin Bartolome, right, kisses his husband Daniel Carroll as they pose for their wedding photos at the Vegas Weddings chapel Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, in Las Vegas. John Locher, AP

State Sen. Kelvin Atkinson wed Sherwood Howard shortly after gay couples began receiving marriage licenses, becoming the first same-sex couple to marry in Las Vegas.

In West Virginia, same-sex couples began receiving marriage licenses after the state’s attorney general dropped his fight opposing same-sex unions. At least one couple was married in a brief civil ceremony outside the Cabell County Courthouse.

MOVEMENT ACROSS THE NATION

Alaska:

A federal judge heard arguments Friday on the first gay marriage ban passed in the U.S., but he did not issue a ruling. The state said the question of whether to define marriage to include gay couples should be decided by citizens, not the courts. Voters approved the ban in 1998.

Arizona:

A federal judge has said a 9th Circuit ruling apparently “controls the outcome” of Arizona’s gay marriage ban. The state is covered by the appellate court that struck down bans in Idaho and Nevada. Marriages have not begun in Arizona. In the meantime, marriage equality supporters delivered more than 5,000 petition signatures calling on Attorney General Tom Horne to stop defending the ban.

Arkansas:

The state Supreme Court on Thursday refused to delay a challenge to that state’s gay marriage ban, rejecting the state attorney general who had asked the court to put the case on hold.

Idaho:

Four same-sex couples asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriages in accordance with the 9th Circuit ruling earlier this week. The filing came in opposition to the emergency delay from Justice Kennedy that caused confusion Wednesday. The high court lifted the stay late Friday afternoon.

Indiana:

The University of Notre Dame has told employees it is extending health care and other benefits to same-sex spouses after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage in Indiana after it declined to hear the state’s appeal. The Catholic university sent out an email to employees Wednesday night, a day after the state attorney general said marriage licenses must be issued to gay couples.

Kansas:

The state’s most populous county issued a marriage license Friday to a same-sex couple, believed to be the first in the state. But the wedding plans of gay couples across the state remained in limbo, with nearly all of the state’s 105 counties refusing to issue marriage licenses.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to block counties from issuing licenses to same-sex couples. Shortly before 6 p.m. CDT, the state Supreme Court ordered the marriages in Johnson County and all other counties on hold.

North Carolina:

Lawyers for state Republican leaders have filed a legal brief urging a federal judge in Greensboro to allow them to intervene in a pair of cases seeking to overturn North Carolina’s gay marriage ban.

House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger filed their answer Friday shortly before a noon deadline imposed by Chief U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen Jr. in Greensboro. Osteen denied a request Thursday from the Republicans seeking an eight-day delay to prepare their arguments.

In their brief, Tillis and Berger are requesting the judge hear oral arguments, and say the court has no jurisdiction over the state’s ban. The judge denied the request to hear arguments and set a Monday 3 p.m. deadline for additional briefs in the case, indicating no ruling would be forthcoming on Friday.

Moments later, however, another federal judge in Asheville, presiding over a separate challenge, struck down North Carolina’s ban, and same-sex couples began marrying immediately as local offices reopened their doors to same-sex couples.

South Carolina:

The state Supreme Court ordered lower state courts not to issue same-sex marriage licenses until a federal judge decides whether the state constitution’s ban on the unions is legal. The move came a day after a judge in Charleston had begun accepting applications.

Virginia:

Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Friday he is sending notice to local social services divisions that married, same-sex couples can now legally adopt children, now that same-sex marriage is legal in Virginia.

Ana Rendon and Michelle Guerra leave the Clark County Marriage License Bureau after receiving their marriage license Downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014.
Ana Rendon and Michelle Guerra leave the Clark County Marriage License Bureau after receiving their marriage license Downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Brian Jones, Las Vegas News Bureau (AP)

CHRISTIE’S THOUGHTS

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says it shouldn’t be up to the Supreme Court to decide whether states allow gay marriage. The Republican governor, widely viewed as a contender for president in 2016, told reporters Thursday that he believes states should have the ability to decide the issue on their own.

Christie personally opposes same-sex marriage but dropped his administration’s legal challenge to a lower court’s decision allowing it last year. He said he has been upholding the law since then. Christie had avoided commenting on the court’s decision at a campaign stop earlier this week.

SUPREME COURT TRIPS UP

The marriage confusion even tripped up someone who should definitely know better.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy mistakenly blocked the start of same-sex marriage in Nevada in an order that spawned confusion among state officials and disappointment in couples hoping to be wed. Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg confirmed the mix-up Thursday, saying Kennedy’s order issued a day earlier was an error that the justice corrected with a second order several hours later. By that time, however, Nevada officials had decided to hold off on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples Wednesday until they could be certain the legal situation was settled.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco declared bans on same-sex marriage in Idaho and Nevada illegal on Tuesday. Idaho quickly asked the Supreme Court for a delay, but Nevada planned to allow same-sex weddings to proceed. The trouble arose because Idaho’s request to the court included a document from the appeals court that listed case numbers for both states.

KEEPING THE BRAKES APPLIED

In some states affected by Monday’s Supreme Court action, officials are not yet instituting same-sex marriage, saying they think there’s still a gray area. Wyoming’s Republican governor said the state will defend its constitution’s definition of marriage as permissible only between a man and woman.

WAITING ON CINCINNATI

There also is growing anticipation for a ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati.

A three-judge panel heard arguments two months ago on challenges to gay marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, the biggest hearing of its kind on the issue.

Its eventual ruling could help determine when or even whether the Supreme Court takes up the issue. There has been no indication of a timetable by the 6th Circuit.

“They (the judges) appreciate that it’s a very significant case, and they want to get a decision out,” says Pierre Bergeron, a Cincinnati attorney with deep experience in federal appellate cases. “On the other hand, it’s also a very complicated case … and they want to make sure they get it right. So that points to the direction that it may take longer.”

SO, HOW MANY STATES ALLOW SAME-SEX MARRIAGE?

Like many other things around same-sex marriage, there’s not a good answer. Before the Supreme Court’s denial, there were 19 states that firmly allowed gay marriage.

The Supreme Court’s action Monday added five states, plus six others that were affected because they were in the same federal circuits that appealed. That would make 30 states allowing gay marriage, but some of them are still trying to block it or haven’t yet instituted mechanisms for weddings.

Idaho and Nevada bring the number to 32, but Justice Kennedy temporarily blocked the Idaho ruling.

So, how many states are actually allowing same-sex couples to marry? As of Friday at 8:00 p.m. EDT, same-sex marriage is legal in 29 states and the District of Columbia.

MEANWHILE, OVERSEAS

Estonia on Thursday became the first former Soviet nation to legalize gay partnerships, while Kyrgyzstan – another ex-Soviet republic thousands of miles east – considers anti-gay legislation.

The parallel moves reflect starkly divergent paths taken by the countries that once were parts of the Soviet empire.

Associated Press contributed to this report.
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