The attorney general’s opinion came as a reply to the tribe’s Tax Commission director, one of several Cherokee officials who had asked for clarification on whether to recognize gay marriages performed under licenses issued by the state of Oklahoma.

Under Cherokee law, the opinion has the force of law, equal to a statute passed through legislation. But it could be challenged in court, Nimmo said.

As recently as October, a tribal court had the opportunity to rule on the issue in a case that was still pending over the validity of McKinley and Reynolds’ 2004 marriage license. But the tribal district court dismissed the case on a technicality without ruling on the issue itself.

Without a clear direction from the courts, the attorney general needed to act on his own, Nimmo said. The opinion takes effect immediately.

“It was a question that officials were going to be facing more and more often,” she said, “and it had to be addressed one way or another.”

Cherokee officials will not be able to make conscientious objections to issuing marriage licenses or processing benefits, Nimmo said.

“But nothing in the opinion,” she said, “would force a minister or an individual Cherokee citizen to participate” in a gay wedding.