It's a good day to be gay, particularly in Alabama. Not only did Chief Justice Roy Moore get verbally ripped from one end to another during a CNN interview with Chris Cuomo, but less than an hour ago, a federal judge
ordered the probate judge in Mobile, AL to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses:
A federal judge on Thursday afternoon ordered Mobile County, Alabama
to start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, a ruling that could
pave the way for other local officials across the state to follow suit.
In an eight-page decision,
U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade reiterated that the state’s ban
on same-sex marriage had been struck down and clarified that Mobile
County’s probate judge, Don Davis, had to adhere to that decision.
Shortly
afterward, the Mobile county office that issues marriage licenses
opened its windows, which had remained shuttered this week, to begin
serving all couples.
Though Granade’s ruling only applies to
Mobile County, gay rights groups hope it will provide clarity to probate
judges in all 67 Alabama counties, more than half of whom refused to give out marriage licenses to gay couples this week even though same-sex marriage became legal in the state on Monday.
. . . It was Roy Moore, the state’s chief justice, who prompted the defiance
of many probate judges by ordering them late Sunday not to issue
licenses to same-sex couples.
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