Tennessee gets temporary reprieve from recognizing same-sex marriage

A federal appeals court stayed a ruling late Friday that would have forced Tennessee to recognize three same-sex marriages performed in other states.

The judges with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state’s attorney general, who requested the stay after a lower court judge declared unconstitutional the state’s law upholding traditional marriage. The couples who challenged the ban on same-sex marriage were all married in other states but now live in Tennessee.

But the case is far from settled. Although the state does not have to recognize the marriages for now, lawyers for both sides are preparing their arguments for the appeal process.