Alabama Begins Issuing Marriage Licenses to Gay Couples

Alabama began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples today (Feb. 9) after last-minute attempt by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore to keep same-sex marriages from happening in the state. 

Fox News reports Moore ordered all probate judges to refuse gay couples licenses Sunday night. The U.S. Supreme Court overruled Moore, saying that marriages would be made available to same-sex couples. 

Human Rights Campaign legal director Sarah Warbelow criticized Moore’s attempt to stop Alabama from allow gay marriage. 

"This is a pathetic, last-ditch attempt at judicial fiat by an Alabama Supreme Court justice--a man who should respect the rule of law rather than advance his personal beliefs,” she said. 

According to Fox News, Jefferson County probate judge Alan King was the first to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in Alabama.

Publication date: February 9, 2015