“The judge here was bound by the 10th Circuit’s ruling,” Stoll said of Skavdahl. “His ruling was very much based on that.”

Acceptance of applications

Natrona County Clerk Renea Vitto, who was not involved in the litigation, said she would accept couples' applications now.

"We don’t have the updated form yet, so if they want the application now, the form reads 'bride' and 'groom,' and the couple would have to decide how to fill that out," she said. "At this point, what I would do is take their applications, hold them and not issue the actual licenses until the 23rd or until Judge Skavdahl says no more appeals have been filed."

Wyoming, nicknamed the Equality State, has had a troubled history with gay acceptance. The state made headlines in 1998 after Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming college student, was fatally beaten.

Shepard’s parents, Dennis and Judy Shepard, were in Skavdahl’s courtroom Thursday watching the proceedings.

Jason Marsden, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, congratulated Wyomingites who will soon get married.