SALT LAKE CITY – Gay couples in Utah have experienced a helter-skelter wave of emotions over the last three weeks: They were suddenly allowed to marry, then saw the weddings stopped by the U.S. Supreme Court and were told the state wouldn’t recognize the unions.
Now, the federal government has intervened and said it will recognize their weddings.
The announcement Friday by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that the government will honor gay marriage in Utah marked the latest strong show of support for same-sex weddings from the Obama administration. The action means more than 1,000 same-sex couples who were married in Utah in the last month can file federal taxes jointly, get Social Security benefits for spouses and request legal immigration status for partners, among other benefits.
A federal judge overturned Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage on Dec. 20, and hundreds of couples got married. The U.S. Supreme Court put a halt to the weddings until the courts sort out the matter. Utah then declared it would not recognize the weddings, but would allow couples to continue to receive whatever benefits they had obtained before the high court ruling.
Utah leaders reiterated on Friday that the state would not recognize same-sex weddings, meaning couples can receive federal benefits but are limited at the state level.
The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will consider the long-term question of whether gay couples have a right to marry in Utah. The state’s voters approved the ban in 2004.
On Friday, the Mormon church issued another statement that explained its beliefs on gay marriage.
“Changes in the civil law do not, indeed cannot, change the moral law that God has established,” the statement said. “God expects us to uphold and keep His commandments regardless of divergent opinions or trends in society. His law of chastity is clear: Sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife.”
Leaders said they and others who oppose same-sex marriages are entitled to express their views without fear of retribution. Likewise, the church urged its members to be kind and respectful to proponents of same-sex marriage.
Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price in Salt Lake City and Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington D.C., contributed to this report. Yost reported from Washington, D.C.
