Supreme Court Lifts Hold on Gay Marriage in Kansas
Source: ABC News
The U.S. Supreme Court said Wednesday that same-sex marriages can go ahead in Kansas.
The nation's highest court denied the state's request to prevent gay and lesbian couples from marrying while Kansas fights the issue in court. The state constitution includes a provision banning gay marriage, approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2005.
"Now, this is a day to celebrate," said Tom Witt, executive director of the gay rights group Equality Kansas.
A federal district judge last week blocked the state from enforcing its ban, saying it was in keeping with an earlier ruling by a federal appeals court that struck down bans in Oklahoma and Utah.
The judge's ruling was supposed to go into effect Tuesday, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor temporarily put it on hold while the high court reviewed the case.
Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas would have sided with the state.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed last month by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two lesbian couples denied marriage licenses.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/gay-couples-kansas-await-supreme-court-action-26850301
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Thomas and Scalia can kiss my ass.
