MOBILE, Ala.(WAAY) – A trio of federal judges denied the state of Alabama’s request to extend a stay on a ruling legalizing gay marriages, paving the way for same-sex marriage ceremonies to begin next week across the state.
Tuesday’s ruling by the three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court is the result of a federal lawsuit filed against Alabama’s state amendment banning gay marriage. Voters overwhelmingly approved the measure in 2006. A lesbian couple in south Alabama recently challenged the ban.
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange had asked for the stay to be extended until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on gay marriage later this year. He immediately filed an appeal with the nation’s highest court which requests an injunction that would honor his extended stay request. U.S. District Judge Callie Granade had previously ruled that the same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional.
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