Steven Reed on ABC.png

Jonathan Karl on Sunday's 'This Week' on ABC interviewed Montgomery County Probate Judge Steven Reed (right) about defying Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. (ABC News)

Montgomery County Probate Judge Steven Reed says he didn't feel any pressure to listen to Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Moore's order to all probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to gay couples "was a desperate attempt to defy the federal government," Reed said in an interview with Jonathan Karl on Sunday's 'This Week' on ABC.

Reed was the first probate judge in the state of Alabama to publicly say he would issue marriage licenses to gay couples when a federal judge struck down the state's ban on gay marriage, making it legal on Feb. 9.

"I think that is what places Alabama a step backwards in some peoples' eyes when they see things like this happen - the defiance and the resistance," he said of Moore's actions, "and I think we are on the front side of this and we are on the right side of history when this is concerned."

Reed said he had no hesitation in granting licenses to gay couples. He had made his decision before Moore made his last minute attempt late Feb. 8 to order probate judges not to comply with a federal court order.

"No, there was no hesitation," he said. "At the time Chief Justice Moore had not started bloviating on this topic, and so there was no reason to defy. I didn't ask for his opinion, and frankly didn't need it.

"The federal judge told us what we needed to do, and to me, that was as clear cut as I needed in order to make a decision," Reed continued.

Only nine probate judges issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Feb. 9. Now, a majority of judges are granting the licenses.

Karl said according to polls, the majority of Alabama residents oppose gay marriage.

"Aren't the people of Alabama essentially with Judge Moore on this?' he asked Reed. "Does that bother you?"

Reed said that doesn't bother him at all.

"We are a nation of laws and not of men," he said. "We are sworn to uphold the law in probate court" and the laws of the state and U.S. constitution.

"We understand that we can't bring politics and personal feelings into decisions we make day-to-day," Reed continued.

Reed was asked if the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage this summer will put an end to the dispute.

"I would love to tell you it would," Reed said, but with Moore at the helm of the Alabama Supreme Court "anything can happen."

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