The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a surprise emergency stay putting same-sex marriages on hold in Idaho and Nevada.
The order was signed by Justice Anthony Kennedy after Idaho asked the high court on Tuesday to issue a stay.
The stay affects only those two states and not the others affected by the Supreme Court’s decision two days earlier to reject appeals from five states seeking to prohibit gay and lesbian unions. Monday’s order effectively made gay marriage legal in 30 states.
The stay came just minutes before same-sex couples who had lined at county buildings in Idaho were expecting to receive marriage licenses. One gay couple in a south-central county received a marriage license before county employees got word of the stay, the Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, a South Carolina court approved a same-sex marriage application Wednesday and plans to issue a license despite the state’s constitutional ban against the practice and the attorney general’s pledge to defend it.
Charleston County Probate Judge Irvin Condon said he would issue a license for Charleston County Councilwoman Colleen Condon and her partner Nichols Bleckley after the state’s required 24-hour waiting period unless overruled by the courts, the AP reported.
