US: Same-sex couples begin to marry across Idaho
Same-sex couples have begun to marry across the state of Idaho.
Idaho’s constitutional same-sex marriage ban was struck down last week by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a twin ruling on bans in both Nevada and Idaho.
Though couples were immediately allowed to marry in the former, a stay was placed on the Idaho ruling – postponing marriages pending appeal.
However, the stay expired today due to a decision not to appeal by Idaho’s Governor Butch Otter – allowing couples to marry across the state from 10am this morning.
Amber and Rachael Beierle, two of the plaintiffs in the court case who have been together for 3 years, were one of the first to be married, by acting Mayor Maryanne Jordan at Boise City Hall.
Meanwhile, at least 19 couples so far have married on the steps of Ada County Courthouse in Boise, with several ministers on-hand to help the scores of couples.
Members of the Boise Gay Men’s Chorus performed for the crowd, while Presbyterian minister Marci Glass was one of those on hand according to the Spokesman Review, telling one couple: “By the power vested in me by the state of Idaho, I now pronounce you wife and wife,”
Other couples have married at courthouses across the state.
Some couples had already married in Latah County last week, after a clerk found there was no lawful reason to prevent them from marrying – but it will be the first time equal marriage is recognised across the state.
It is the latest in a spate of equal marriage victories, after weddings began in Colorado, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana, Oklahoma and Nevada last week.
