Human rights group asks US Attorney General to recognise Utah gay couples’ marriages
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has written to the US Attorney General to ask him to ensure that same-sex couples married in the state of Utah are recognised as married for benefits.
Between 20 December and 6 January, some 1,300 couples married in the state as a US District Judge ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage violated the state’s constitution.
The Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes advised Governor Gary Herbert that marriages between gay couples who married in that short period should not be recognised by the state for benefits purposes.
The AP has obtained a letter from the HRC which calls on the US Attorney General to immediately recognise the marriages of those couples, and allow them federal benefits.
A US Supreme Court ruling in June 2013 extended over a thousand benefits to same-sex married couples. The same court is expected to decide some time in February whether Utah same-sex couples will be able to marry going forward.
