Barb Berggoetz

The Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS — The state of Indiana will not recognize several hundred same-sex marriages that took place after a federal judge overturned Indiana's law, according to a memo from the governor's chief counsel.

Mark G. Ahearn, chief counsel to Gov. Mike Pence, issued the memo Monday to all executive branches. It outlined the state's position since the federal court struck down Indiana's law forbidding gay marriages June 25 and the federal appeals court's stay of that ruling June 27.

The memo said Indiana's law against same-sex marriages "is in full force and effect and executive branch agencies are to execute their functions as though the U.S. District Court order of June 25 had not been issued."

The Pence administration decision not to recognize the gay marriages is a prudent step while court appeals are pending, activists fighting same-sex marriage said.

"In consultation with our legal counsel, we believe a proper reading of the Court of Appeals decision stays the impact of the initial federal court decision," Pence said Wednesday. "As governor, I have an obligation to uphold the laws of the state of Indiana."

Also on Wednesday, the Utah attorney general said he is filing an appeal directly with the Supreme Court on the striking down of his state's ban on same-sex marriage.

And a federal judge in Colorado said that state's gay-marriage ban also is unconstitutional, but he immediately put his ruling on hold. A county clerk in Boulder, Colo., had been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples since a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver told Utah officials that its gay-marriage ban violated the Fourteenth Amendment.

In Indiana, supporters and their lawyers believe that the Hoosier marriages were legal when they occurred — before a federal appeals court stayed the decision scrapping the law — and should remain legal now.

"It highlights the fact that same-sex couples throughout the state will continue to undergo significant harm and be treated as second class citizens until final resolution of the appeals process," said Paul Castillo, staff lawyer for Lambda Legal. The national gay rights organization brought one of the lawsuits that led to the decision from U.S. District Judge Richard Young striking down Indiana's law.

Ahearn's opinion also said the state will comply with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' individual order recognizing the marriage of plaintiffs Amy Sandler and Niki Quasney of Munster, Ind., in northwest Indiana. Quasney was diagnosed in 2009 with ovarian cancer and is terminally ill.

Gay couples around the state had rushed to county clerks' offices to get married during the three-day window before the ruling was stayed.

"I think they could have easily left the marriages intact," said Chris Paulson, president of the board of directors of Indiana Equality Action. She married her partner, Deanna Medsker, in those three days.

"I think the marriages will be restored as it goes through the process. I also think they will be federally recognized shortly," she said. "But in the meantime, this puts a lot of people in limbo."

Contributing: The Associated Press