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A new lawsuit seeks to compel South Carolina to comply with precedent in its judicial circuit that has established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

The 15-page complaint was filed on Wednesday by the LGBT group Lambda Legal on behalf of a lesbian couple, Colleen Condon and Nichols Bleckley, who applied and paid for a marriage license when Charleston County allowed same-sex marriage, but were unable to marry.

In a statement, Condon said she and her partner were excited about the possibility of being wed after obtaining a marriage license and disappointed when that didn’t come to pass.

“We were excited after our application was accepted on Wednesday to realize we could really start planning our wedding,” Condon said. “We could set a date and a location and start making deposits — all that came to a screeching halt when we couldn’t get our license on Thursday. It’s terrible that the officials who are supposed to look out for the interests of all South Carolinians are instead making a political point at the expense of my family and thousands of families across the state.”

After the Supreme Court refused to review a decision in favor of same-sex marriage in Virginia from the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Charleston County judged the decision was binding on South Carolina and briefly permitted same-sex marriage. However, the South Carolina Supreme Court halted potential gay nuptials throughout the state the next day upon request of South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Beth Littrell, senior attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta, said actions from the Fourth Circuit mean “same-sex couples in South Carolina should be shopping for a caterer, not a lawyer.

“Gov. Haley and Attorney General Wilson cannot continue to ignore the rule of law,” Littrell added. “Fortunately, they have run out of cards to play — we’re urging the court to allow same-sex couples in South Carolina to marry without any further delay.”

Lambda Legal attorneys Littrell and Greg Nevins are representing the couple in the case as well as South Carolina Equality Coalition attorneys M. Malissa Burnette and Nekki Shutt of Callison Tighe & Robinson, LLC. and Vickie Eslinger of Nexsen Pruett, LLC.

“The Governor and Attorney General are playing politics with our families and it’s shameful,” Shutt said. “Instead of celebrating and planning weddings, same-sex couples all over South Carolina are holding their collective breath – and they have been waiting long enough.”

Among the defendants in the lawsuit is Charleston County Probate Judge Irvin Condon, who was responsible for the decision to distribute marriage licenses to same-sex couples in his county before he was overruled by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Another federal lawsuit related to marriage, Bradacs v. Haley, was pending in South Carolina. However, it was filed by private attorneys on behalf couples seeking recognition of their out-of-state same-sex marriage as opposed to the right to marry in South Carolina.

Prior to the filing of the lawsuit, Wilson told the Herald Online he’ll continue to defend South Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage despite precedent establishing a right to same-sex marriage in the Fourth Circuit, which governs South Carolina.

“I’m the state’s attorney, and the state is my client, and my job is to represent the state’s interest in every venue that exists until there are no more venues to represent the state,” Wilson said. “I’m not opposed to anything, I’m only for the rule of law and my role with the Constitution as the state’s attorney.”

It’s uncertain what legal argument Wilson could make in favor of South Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage given the ruling by the Fourth Circuit and actions by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in South Carolina was approved by voters in 2006, where it won at the ballot by 78 percent of the vote.