The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for gay marriages to begin in Idaho by lifting a temporary order from earlier this week.

The justices turned down an appeal from Idaho’s governor seeking to block same-sex marriages there. An earlier temporary order from Justice Anthony Kennedy was vacated.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, a federal District Court judge ruled that state’s ban on gay marriages unconstitutional. Officials in Asheville planned to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples immediately.

The court’s action in Idaho culminates a week in which the justices stood back and allowed same-sex marriage to become legal in most of the nation.

On Monday, the court turned down appeals from five states where federal appeals courts ruled gays and lesbians had a constitutional right to marry. These appellate courts — in Denver, Chicago and Richmond, Va. — said Americans have a right to marry, and the states had no convincing reason for excluding gay couples.

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