Judge Denies Stay Request, Gay Marriage Legalized in Idaho

Gay couples will be able to marry in Idaho starting Friday, as a judge rejected Governor Butch Otter’s request to halt marriages in the state until the appeal process is complete.

Otter wanted the stay in order to prevent the chaos that Utah faced when the state lifted its gay marriage ban, calling it an “unmitigated disaster.”

Otter’s motion read, “Utah, its administrative agencies, its same-sex couples and its citizens generally have been plunged into uncertainty, chaos and confusion over the marital status of the same-sex-couples who received marriage licenses in that state before the United State Supreme Court stepped in.”

After Judge Candy Dale denied the stay request, Otter called for an emergency meeting for Friday morning Christian Today reports.

Attorney General Lawrence Wasden also supports the ban and is planning a second stay request. If Dale denies the second stay, marriage licenses will be available to gay couples.

Otter said that he will fight gay marriage in the state to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Publication date: May 15, 2014