US: Same-sex couples file appeal to reject current stay on marriage ban

Attorneys for two same-sex couples in a court case currently challenging Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban filed an appeal last Monday.

The plaintiffs are asking the federal court to allow same-sex marriages to take place before the US Supreme Court rules on the issue.

Last week, the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban in a 2-1 decision.

The court ruled that the 2006 voter-approved laws barring same-sex marriage and denying recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states violate US constitutional rights.

Virginia’s Attorney General Mark Herring had filed a brief condemning the state’s same-sex marriage ban this April, deeming it unconstitutional.

The ruling has been stayed pending the US Supreme Court appeal. Without a stay, marriage licenses for Virginia’s same-sex couples could have been issued 21 days after the ruling.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard a case appealing a decision striking down the state’s marriage ban in May.

This occurred after a federal judge overturned the Virginia same-sex marriage ban this February.

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