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The Guardian
The US supreme court signalled a sweeping expansion of gay rights across America on Monday, declining to hear appeals from five states seeking to uphold bans on same-sex marriage and setting a course for legalisation in a majority of states in the union.The court’s unexpected decision to slam the door on pending appeals meant there will be no imminent ruling on the constitutionality of gay marriage nationwide. But it had the dramatic effect of clearing a way for its rapid expansion to 30 states and the District of Columbia.
In some of the most conservative states in the country, county clerks were preparing to issue marriage licences within hours of the justices’ terse announcement on Monday.
An immediate impact was felt in five states. Same-sex marriage became legal in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin, where the authorities had been appealing defeats against local bans on same-sex marriage in the lower courts.
Al Jazeera America
The Supreme Court has officially declined to review all petitions stemming from state bans on same-sex marriage [PDF], meaning lower court decisions stand and laws banning such unions have been struck down in multiple states across the U.S. The decision was handed down without comment.The justices had presaged such an action last week when none of the same-sex challenges were among the 11 cases the court added to its docket, but now it’s official. Decisions in Indiana, Wisconsin, Utah, Oklahoma and in three cases from Virginia — where state marriage restrictions were ruled unconstitutional — stand.
Bloomberg
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for gays to marry in 11 more states while leaving the issue in doubt elsewhere as the justices rejected calls for a nationwide ruling.Advocates on both sides had urged the court to resolve the matter following a wave of lower court rulings that the U.S. Constitution guarantees same-sex marriage rights.
The justices instead gave proponents a more limited victory that will raise the number of gay-marriage states to 30, plus the District of Columbia. The high court left intact decisions from three federal appeals courts legalizing same-sex marriage in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin and Indiana. Those decisions can now take effect.
Reuters
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to decide once and for all whether states can ban gay marriage, a surprising move that will allow gay men and women to get married in five additional states, with more likely to follow quickly.On the first day of its new term, the high court without comment rejected appeals in cases involving five states - Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana - that had prohibited gay marriage, leaving intact lower-court rulings striking down those bans.
As a result, the number of states permitting gay marriage would jump from 19 to 24, likely soon to be followed by six more states that are bound by the regional federal appeals court rulings that had struck down bans. That would leave another 20 states that prohibit same-sex marriage.
New York Times
WASHINGTON — In a move that may signal the inevitability of a nationwide right to same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court on Monday let stand appeals court rulings allowing such unions in five states.The development, a major surprise, cleared the way for same-sex marriages in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Officials in Virginia announced that marriages would start at 1 p.m. on Monday.
The decision to let the appeals court rulings stand, which came without explanation in a series of brief orders, will almost immediately increase the number of states allowing same-sex marriage from 19 to 24, along with the District of Columbia. The impact of the move will in short order be even broader.