Supreme Court Temporarily Reinstates Utah Gay Marriage Ban

In this Nov. 7, 2008 publicity image released by Red Flag Releasing, people gather to protest at Mormon headquarters and their support of California’s 2008 Proposition 8, a ballot initiative banning gay marriage, in Salt Lake City. The Mormon position on gay marriage is the focus of the documentary “8: The Mormon Proposition”. (AP Photo/Red Flag Releasing, David Daniels)

Monday, the Supreme Court temporarily reinstated the Utah gay marriage ban, giving the state the requested time to appeal a federal judge’s ruling against the Utah gay marriage ban.

In a brief order issued Monday, the court blocked any new gay marriage unions from taking place, which came just days after a December 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby that the state’s ban on gay marriage violated gay and lesbian couples’ constitutional rights.

Following the ruling in one of the nation’s most conservative states, more than 900 gay couples have already married.

The Supreme Court’s order will remain in effect until the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether to uphold Shelby’s ruling, which the state of Utah argues was an “unlawful injunction” that violated Utah’s Tenth Amendment right to write and enforce its own laws.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who handles emergency appeals from Utah and the five other states in the 10th Circuit Court, turned the request to reinstate the Utah gay marriage ban over to the whole court. Justice Sotomayor recently unilaterally issued an order to stay the contraception mandate in ObamaCare, which would have otherwise imposed harsh fines on religious organizations who — based on faith — object to providing certain types of termination and preventive contraception drugs.

The debate over gay marriage will now move to Denver, where the appeals court will consider arguments from the state of Colorado, who are against gay marriage. They will also hear arguments from three gay and lesbian couples who challenged the state’s gay marriage ban following Shelby’s ruling.

The appeals court have already shot down the state twice, who requested to merely stay the practice of gay marriage until the issue can be heard by the high court.

Utah changed its constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage in 2004, fueled by a 2.8 million citizen population that is made up of nearly two-thirds members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Mormons run the state’s politics. They have softened their tone on gay marriage as of late, but still believe in the Bible definition of traditional marriage, and teach members homosexuality is what the Bible says it is, a sin.