Same-sex marriages resumed Friday afternoon in California after a federal appeals court complied with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Prop 8 case sooner than expected.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted its stay on an injunction that had ordered state officials to stop enforcing Prop 8 — a process that was initially expected to take 25 days, but took only two. After the stay had been lifted, Gov. Jerry Brown immediately ordered the state’s counties to begin issuing marriage licenses.
Among the first couples to request their license were Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, above, the plaintiffs in the Prop 8 case. Perry and Stier’s wedding reportedly was to be broadcast live by ABC7 at 4:45 p.m. Dallas time.
“After four and a half long and painful years, justice for committed gay and lesbian couples has finally been delivered,” HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. “In California, a time of struggle and indignity are over, and love, justice and freedom begin anew. And now, no election, no judge — no one — can take this basic right away. At long last, marriage has finally returned to the most populous state in the nation.”
Anyone headed to California to tie the knot? A new summer of love has begun!
