WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriage to begin in Kansas, denying state officials a stay on a federal court ruling striking down its ban.
In a brief order Wednesday night, seven justices voted to allow the federal court's ruling to go into effect, with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas voting to leave the stay in place.
The ruling makes Kansas the 33rd state, plus the District of Columbia, to allow gay marriages. It followed a precedent set by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which separately struck down bans on gay marriage in Oklahoma and Utah.
That decision, and appellate court rulings in Indiana, Virginia and Wisconsin, were upheld when the Supreme Court declined to review challenging petitions last month.
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A flurry of rulings by federal judges following in the 4th, 9th and 10th circuits have sunk bans in Alaska, Arizona, Wyoming and West Virginia, and South Carolina's was struck down, pending a stay that expires Nov. 20. Montana remains the only state in those jurisdictions with a ban still standing.
Following the Supreme Court decision last year to strike down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, same-sex marriage advocates had gone on an essentially unbroken streak of victories at the circuit level.
But last week, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to uphold bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The decision, the first split among appellate courts, will likely force the Supreme Court to render a final judgement in the coming months.
