Same-sex marriage returns to Alabama
- U.S. Supreme Court%27s 5-4 decision legalizes same-sex marriage nationwide
- Jessica Dent and Carolee Taylor married in Montgomery hours after June 26 ruling released
- State Rep. Patricia Todd%2C D-Birmingham%2C says %22We knew it was coming. We just didn%27t know what day.%22
- Ala. Chief Justice Roy Moore blasts decision and hopes court will rehear case
It was a joyous day for Jessica Dent and Carolee Taylor. But it started
The couple, who have been together 13 years, chose not to get married in
"I was attempting to paint my toes, it was coming through over the news, she was trying to text me, and it was a mess," Taylor said.
Dent and Taylor were among the many couples nationwide who took their vows after the 5-4 ruling.
"As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in for the majority. "It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves."
Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, director of the Human Rights Campaign Alabama and the state's only openly gay legislator, said she was "ecstatic" with the ruling, but not surprised.
"It's sort of been like waiting for a baby to be born," she said. "We knew it was coming. We just didn't know what day."
The high court's decision appeared to end months of drama in Alabama over the status of same-sex marriage, with most -- but not all -- state officials saying they would respect the ruling, even if they disagreed with it. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said in a statement he was "disappointed" in the ruling, but added that he acknowledged it was "now the law of the land."
U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade struck down Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage in two separate decisions in late January.Marriage licenses began being issued in early February, despite Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore ordering probate judges not to do so.
Responding to a lawsuit filed by two conservative groups, the Alabama Supreme Court in early March ordered a statewide halt to the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses. In the opinion, the state's highest court ruled that it had the same power to interpret the Constitution as a lower federal court. The justices ruled Alabama's 1998 and 2006 bans on same-sex marriage did not violate the 14th amendment because, the justices said, they were not meant to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples.
Moore, who recused himself from the March case, said in an interview Friday afternoon that the injunction in the case should still stand to wait for efforts to convince the justices to rehear the case. An application to that effect can be filed within 25 days of a decision.
"There is an injunction issued by Alabama Supreme Court," he said. "The United States Supreme Court doesn't overrule that injunction. The Alabama Supreme Court will take up that injunction, I'm sure, after the issuance of this case."
Such rehearings are rare, but Moore said he hoped the court would consider Justice Antonin Scalia's heated dissent, in which the judge accused the majority of making "a naked judicial claim to legislative—indeed, super-legislative—power."
"This will be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assist in the new orthodoxy," Moore said."I think today's decision shows decades of attempts to restrain this court's abuse of authority have failed."
In May, Granade reaffirmed her decisions from
Some probate judges Friday chose to wait on issuing licenses. Montgomery County Probate Judge Steven Reed was not one, saying Granade's order was the final word on the matter. The Probate Judge's Office issued a license to Dent and Taylor just before 1 p.m., and Reed said he had the legal authority to do so, whatever's Moore's views.
"I hope his better judgment comes into play," Reed said. "I think most of my colleagues and those of us who are open-minded and respectful of the rule of law, it's pretty clear that any couple can get married regardless of whether they're same-sex or not. To deny them is unconstitutional."
Louisiana officials made arguments similar to Moore's, according to The New York Times. Todd dismissed attempts to stop the ruling.
"The decision was very clear and decisive," she said. "If he decides we don't have to abide by this decision, I hope he'll be removed from the bench very quickly."
Moore said he did not plan to issue any orders on the
Amid the controversy, vows were exchanged. Taylor, a massage therapist, and Jessica Dent, who works in planning and development, held a brief ceremony at RSA Plaza, then walked back to the Montgomery County Courthouse Annex to finalize their paperwork.
"We waited so long, when it finally came through, we could not think of a better way to celebrate than (marrying) today," Dent said.
The couple felt they needed a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court before moving forward with their vows. Taylor said they didn't expect the situation in February to last long.
"We've been living together all our lives, so we knew something would hold us up," Taylor said.
Messages left with probate judges in Autauga and Elmore counties were not returned Friday. Asked if he had anything to say to gay and lesbian couples marrying today, Moore said "no."
Reaction from groups on both sides of the issue was passionate. The Alabama Policy Institute, one of the two groups that brought the lawsuit that led to the state Supreme Court's March decision, denounced the decision Friday morning.
"Today's ruling trounces on a strict interpretation of the Constitution by creating an entirely new right and by inexplicably taking the matter out of the hands of the people of each state," the statement said.
But supporters saw the decision as an expansion of existing rights.
"Today's historic Supreme Court ruling means same-sex couples will soon have the freedom to marry and equal respect for their marriages across America," Susan Watson, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said in a statement.
Dent and Taylor planned to go to a celebration Friday evening of the Supreme Court's decision. Dent said she never thought she would see a ruling like this in her lifetime.
"It's moving so fast," she said. "We're a baby nation, and we're watching it evolve into what it should be. A free land."