Same-sex marriage is now legal in Arizona, as the state’s conservative attorney general said he won’t appeal a court ruling that banned the state’s gay marriage restriction.
U.S. District Judge John Sedwick on Friday struck down a 1996 Arizona law and a 2008 voter-approved constitutional amendment that outlawed gay marriage in the state.
Less than an hour later, Republican Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne instructed county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The announcement prompted gay couples in Phoenix to immediately begin lining up at the downtown courthouse to apply for marriage licenses, the Associated Press reported. There is no waiting period in the state that would delay weddings.
Arizona is the latest state to legalize gay marriage after a flurry of federal court activity the past two weeks. Gay marriage became legal in Idaho on Wednesday and in Nevada last week.
More than 30 states and the District of Columbia now recognize gay marriage rights, with cases pending in several others.
Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer accused the federal courts of trampling on the will of voters and overextending its authority into state matters.
“Simply put, courts should not be in the business of making and changing laws based on their personal agendas,” Brewer said. “It is not the role of the judiciary to determine that same-sex marriages should be allowed.”
But Horn said that while he disagrees with Sedwick’s decision, a challenge would be futile.
“I fought it as far as I ethically could, and my decision today is based on a legal conclusion that there is no chance of a reversal,” he said during a media event. “And so, therefore, it would be unethical for me to file an appeal that had no chance of success.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages in seven states — including Arizona — affected by the Supreme Court’s ruling this month not to review lower-court decisions that overturned marriage bans in those states.
“We will not delay in fulfilling our responsibility to afford every eligible couple, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, the full rights and responsibilities to which they are entitled,” Mr. Holder said. “With their long-awaited unions, we are slowly drawing closer to full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans nationwide.”
The federal government now recognizes gay marriage rights in 26 states and the District of Columbia.
