Same-sex couples can marry in Alabama, judge rules - but not yet

A federal judge in Alabama ruled Thursday that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry in that state but ordered all gay marriages be put on hold until the Supreme Court makes its decision on the issue in the next month in Obergefell v. Hodges.

The two orders from U.S. District Judge Callie Granade follow months of uncertainty after she issued a preliminary injunction in February that put federal and state courts at odds, blocking the state’s attorney general and Mobile County probate judge from enforcing the state’s laws banning gay marriage.


Granade again affirmed the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry, this time making clear that it applies across the state, not just in Mobile County.

“This injunction binds all the officers, agents, servants and employees, and others in active concert or participation with Judge Don Davis, Judge Tim Russell or any of the members of the Defendant Class who would seek to enforce the marriage laws of Alabama which prohibit or fail to recognize same-sex marriage,” she wrote.

The state attorney general’s office said it welcomed Granade’s decision to put her order on hold until the Supreme Court decides.

“We’ve said from the beginning that the U.S. Supreme Court would have the final say in this matter,” the office said in a statement, reported by AL.com. “Had Judge Granade heeded our request that she stay her order from the start we could have avoided a tremendous amount of chaos and confusion. The good news here is that Judge Granade has finally accepted our advice and issued a stay.”