Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling making same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states, gay couples throughout the country married, though the court provided no timeline for the implementation to begin.
Prior to the June 26 decision, 37 states and the District of Columbia allowed gay marriages, and the court’s ruling would legalize it in all 50 states,
according to CNN.
While this may be the case, there are some states holding out on the issue.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement saying clerks, magistrates, and other governmental officials who wish not to participate in providing same-sex couples marriage license will not be required to do so for religious beliefs,
according to USA Today.
CNN reported, Abbott’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, affirmed the governor’s conviction, tweeting, “I will do everything I can as Attorney General to be a public voice for those standing in defense of their religious beliefs.”
Alabama is another stand out. Though a federal court ruled earlier in the year that same-sex marriage is legal in the state, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore instructed probate judges to not issue the license because it was banned by a referendum.
With the Supreme Court’s ruling, Moore questioned the validity of the decisions because Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan have performed gay marriage ceremonies.
“Not only does the U.S. Supreme Court have no legal authority to redefine marriage, but also at least two members of the Court's majority opinion were under a legal duty to recuse and refrain from voting,” Moore said in a statement, according to CNN.
Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell told court clerks to wait up to 25 days before issuing licenses following the reveal of the decision, saying he did not see anything in the decision that would make the rule effective immediately.
While Louisiana Gov. and presidential candidate Bobby Jindal supported traditional marriage,
he also said to NBC News’s “Meet the Press” that the state has to follow the law.
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Tennessee, South Dakota, Ohio, North Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Mississippi, Michigan, Georgia, Arkansas, and Kentucky all made announcements that they would respect the court’s decision, even though many of the state leaders disagreed with the ruling, according to CNN.
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