Alabama Supreme Court Orders Temporary Hold on Marriages for Same-Sex Couples

Montgomery - March 4, 2015 – The Alabama Supreme Court has ordered probate judges in the state to temporarily stop issuing marriage licenses, aside from probate judge Davis in Mobile, who was specifically ordered to stop enforcing Alabama's ban on marriage for same-sex couples.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, released the following statement:

"The Alabama probate judges who are caught in the middle will be looking for guidance, and I am confident that the federal courts -- and soon the U.S. Supreme Court -- will provide it. The saddest thing is that this manipulated lawsuit -- the Alabama Supreme Court led by Roy Moore did not even ask for briefing on the constitutional questions it rushed to get wrong -- will be one more delay for, and insult to, the loving couples seeking to marry, albeit a temporary one. The Alabama Supreme Court has done a disservice to itself, not to mention a massive injustice to the people of Alabama, in allowing itself to be used to temporarily obstruct the freedom to marry and the enforcement of the Constitution's guarantees. This flouting of the Constitution and travesty of justice will not stand."

Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.