Late Tuesday afternoon, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Denver denied Utah’s request to halt a ruling by a federal judge that struck down the state’s law banning gay marriage. The two appeals court judges who denied the state’s request for a stay said in their decision that attorneys failed to prove there was a threat of irreparable harm if the stay was not granted and that that there is the likelihood of a successful appeal.
The Tenth Circuit’s decision comes just over a day after U.S. District Court Judge Robert Shelby refused to stay the ruling he delivered on Friday last week. Since Shelby struck down the state’s law prohibiting same sex marriage, hundreds of gay couples around the state have received marriage licenses and held impromptu weddings, With stay rejections from both the U.S. District Court in Utah and the Federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, it appears gay marriage in Utah is here to stay for now, but state attorneys will try one more time to stay Shelby’s decision. Attorney General spokesman Ryan Buckman said in a statement that Utah will file a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to stop gay weddings.