US: Utah governor says he will follow the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage benefits

Utah governor Gary Herbert said Friday that Utah will recognize same-sex marriages if the US Supreme Court rules against extending an order preventing same-sex couples married in the state from receiving state benefits.

On Wednesday, Utah asked the US Supreme Court — in an emergency appeal — to block a ruling instructing the state to recognise the marriages of same-sex couples.

Herbert’s spokesperson said that Utah will abide by any final ruling by the US Supreme Court in the appeal.

The governor believes, however, that the fate of the state’s same-sex marriage ban should be settled first by the Supreme Court, according to his spokesperson.

Utah asked the Supreme Court to rule on the state’s same-sex marriage ban last week.

Over 1,000 gay couples married in the state after a judge ruled in December that the state’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional.

However, on 6 January, the US Supreme Court stayed the ruling, putting the marriage ban back in place and causing some to doubt the legality of the marriages.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the state must recognise those marriages performed, despite the ongoing battle over marriage equality.

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