South Carolina issues first marriage licenses to gay couples

A South Carolina judge began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples today amid ongoing legal wrestling over the fate of marriage in the state.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ruledthat South Carolina’s law defining marriage as between one man and one woman was unconstitutional. The South Carolina Supreme Court had previously ordered that no marriage licenses be issued to gay couples until another federal judge, J. Michelle Childs, ruled in a case about whether to recognize same-sex marriages performed out-of-state. Childs ruled Tuesday that South Carolina should recognize those marriages, clearing the way for a judge in Charleston to start issuing licenses to gay couples this morning.

Meanwhile, the state attorney general has appealed to the Supreme Court for an emergency stay of Gergel’s ruling—the one overturning South Carolina’s marriage law. The Court has not responded yet, but in a similar case recently it declined to stay a Kansas judge’s order to allow same-sex marriages there.

Still, local judges in South Carolina are hesitant to act on Gergel’s ruling. Only one other county so far has accepted applications from gay couples, and a judge there said she would wait to approve them until the Supreme Court ruled on South Carolina’s request for an emergency stay.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.