In a bizarre ruling that only applies to gays and lesbians, the U.S. Supreme Court put a stay on marriage equality in Virginia a day before an appeals court ruling was to go into effect.
The stay only applies to same-sex marriages. Opposite-sex couples will still be allowed to marry in the state, although there’s no word if those marriages will be seen as valid by most people. Since there is a religious exemption in all marriage laws, denominations such as Reform Judaism and United Church of Christ that believe marriage discrimination laws violate their beliefs may not recognize those marriages. Those denominations certainly will not have to accept the validity of opposite-sex marriage licenses issued during this period of discrimination.
The Virginia attorney general refused to defend discrimination in his state at the trial court or appeals court levels and has asked the Supreme Court for a quick resolution. But he also asked for the discriminatory stay that applies only to gay and lesbian couples. He is not up for re-election, so it is not clear why he is taking both sides of the fence on the issue.
When a stay is placed on issuing marriage licenses, the stay should be placed on issuing all marriage licenses. If the gays can wait, so can the straights.
