An order instructing Mobile County's probate judge to issue marriage license to gays will remain in effect, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Attorneys for Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis had asked U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. "Ginny" Granade to put that order on hold in light of a subsequent contradictory ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court. That court later specifically ruled that Davis, too, is bound by its ruling that same-sex couples should not get marriage licenses until after the U.S. Supreme Court settles the issue.

"Although the court would agree that the developments in these same-sex marriage cases has at times seemed dizzying, the court finds that Judge Davis has not shown that a stay is warranted," Granade wrote.

That leaves Davis caught between conflicting orders of two different courts. His attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment. The Mobile County marriage license office has been closed to all couples - gay and straight - since March 4.

Heather Fann, who represents gay couples seeking to get married, welcomed Granade's ruling.

"I think she's just holding firm to her position that the same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional," she said. "There's really been no change."

As long as Davis does not issue licenses to heterosexual couples but not gay couples, he will remain in compliance with the judge's order, Fann said.

"It puts opposite-sex couples in the same position our clients are in," she said.

Granade ruled on Jan. 23 that Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional but delayed that ruling from taking effect until Feb. 9 to give the state a chance to appeal. When both the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene, the judge's order took effect.

But many probate judges, including Davis, did not comply. Granade that week issued a specific order to Davis prohibiting him from enforcing the state's same-sex marriage ban, and he immediately re-opened the marriage license office.

His attorneys argued that this month's rulings by the Alabama Supreme Court changed the game. But Grande wrote today that Davis had failed to meet two key requirements for a stay - that he would be irreparably harmed and that he was likely to win the case in the end.

"In the instant case, Judge Davis has not argued, much less shown that he is likely to succeed on the merits. This court has found that Alabama's marriage sanctity laws violate the Plaintiffs' rights under the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution," she wrote. "This court's conclusion agrees with the overwhelming consensus of courts across the country that have addressed the constitutionality of similar state laws since" the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 2013.

The lawsuit in question involves a west Mobile couple who went to court on their own and won a ruling from Granade allowing them to marry in Alabama. Lawyers who entered the case later to help the couple, James Strawser and John Humphrey, added three more gay couples after the state Supreme Court ruling and have asked Granade to certify the suit as a class action.

That would potentially allow the plaintiffs to get a ruling applying specifically to all 68 probate judges - and every other state official who might seek to enforce the same-sex marriage ban.

Granade has not ruled on that request.