Colorado’s gay marriage ban has been ruled unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled Colorado’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional but stayed implementation of his ruling until a higher court can weigh in, leaving the fate of couples who have continued to obtain marriage licenses up in the air.

U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore’s decision will be in response to a lawsuit by six gay couples who want an injunction declaring Colorado’s ban unconstitutional. While Moore indicated the injunction is expected to be granted, he said the question is whether to put his decision on hold.

This gives Colorado Republican Attorney General John Suthers until Aug. 25 to seek a stay from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, or from the U.S. Supreme Court. Shortly after the ruling, Suthers filed a notice of appeal to the 10th Circuit. He said he’s confident the appeals court will continue the stay to let the U.S. Supreme Court be the final authority on the question of gay-marriage bans.

“Judge Moore did the right thing today, faithfully upholding both the Constitution and Colorado values,” Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, said in a statement. “This is the second court decision in favor of the freedom to marry just in Colorado — and across the country, judge after judge, court after court, in state after state have all examined the evidence and sifted through the arguments and concluded that the denial of marriage to same-sex couples cannot stand. It’s time for the state attorney general to stop spending taxpayer money to defend the indefensible and allow gay couples to wed now.”

More than 20 courts have issued rulings siding with gay marriage advocates since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to married same-sex couples. The rulings have come in 17 states.

Even though Colorado’s gay marriage ban is still in effect, clerks in Boulder, Denver, and Pueblo counties have issued marriage licenses to gay couples after several favorable court rulings. Denver and Pueblo have stopped because of a state Supreme Court order, and Suthers is trying to get Boulder to cease issuing licenses to gay couples. Read more about the story here.