Marriage licenses are being issued to same-sex couples in St. Joseph County beginning today. The County Clerk’s office says that they began issuing the licenses this morning after receiving word from the 7th Circuit Appeals Court in Chicago that a stay on their ruling — which found Indiana’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional — had been lifted.
The United States Supreme Court declined to hear the Indiana case, along with cases from Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in those states.
The decision also boosts the chances in six other states that fall under the jurisdiction of the appeals courts that struck down bans. It is likely that 30 states will soon have marriage equality, comprising 60 percent of the US population.
St. Joseph County declined to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples yesterday. The County Clerk’s office says that they were waiting for word from the 7th Circuit in Chicago lifting the stay, as directed by the Indiana Attorney General’s office.
The news also means that marriages performed in Indiana back in June, when a federal court initially ruled Indiana’s ban unconstitutional, are now legal.
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