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Idaho gets a temporary stay on same-sex marriage

An appeals court found that bans on gay marriage in Idaho and Nevada cause “profound legal, financial, social and psychic harms.”

By Frances Burns
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy granted Idaho officials a temporary stay Wednesday of a ruling ending the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

Kennedy's action came a day after a federal appeals court ruled that both Idaho and Nevada must allow homosexual couples to wed. He asked the plaintiffs, four same-sex couples, to respond by Thursday afternoon.

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A three-judge Ninth Circuit appeals panel issued a decision Tuesday describing the plaintiffs in both cases as "ordinary Idahoans and Nevadans." The judges dismissed arguments by officials from both states that barring same-sex couples from marriage is good for children's welfare.

"When same-sex couples are married, just as when opposite-sex couples are married, they serve as models of loving commitment to all," Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the unanimous opinion.

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear appeals of three appellate court rulings on gay marriage. That overturned bans in five states and will allow same-sex marriage in six more.

Within days, same-sex couples could be allowed to marry in 35 states, 10 years after a Massachusetts court decision made that state the first in the country where homosexuals could legally tie the knot. All states where same-sex marriage remains illegal are now fighting lawsuits.

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The Ninth Circuit judges found that gay couples endure "profound legal, financial, social and psychic harms" as a result of the bans.

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