AUSTIN, Texas -- Many county clerks across Texas have begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite instructions from the state attorney general that they could refuse to do so if it violates their religious beliefs. And the ones holding out say they are doing so mostly for logistic -- not religious -- reasons.
Counties in more liberal areas of the fiercely conservative state began sanctioning same-sex weddings within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Friday that legalized gay marriage nationwide and wiped out a 2005 amendment to the Texas Constitution banning it.
Some counties originally reported holding off to wait for updated paperwork or further state instructions. But many of those announced they would issue marriage licenses to gay couples beginning Monday.
That about-face comes despite a weekend opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who wrote that "county clerks and their employees retain religious freedoms," including objections to issuing same-sex marriage licenses. He suggested that officials who defy the Supreme Court order could face fines or lawsuits but said private attorneys were ready to defend them, and even do so for free.
Not many officials appeared ready to take Paxton up on that offer, however. The Associated Press polled a dozen counties, mostly in GOP-dominated West Texas, and found many issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas also set up a statewide hotline and asked gay couples to call if they were denied marriage licenses. Once statewide vital statistics forms had been modified in conjunction with the legalization of same-sex marriages, the group said it had received no major complaints, according to Rebecca Robertson, its legal and policy director.
In Mississippi on Monday, Attorney General Jim Hood emailed the state's 82 circuit clerks saying he would not take "adverse action" against any clerk who issued a marriage license to a same-sex couple. Hood also warned that clerks who refused could be sued.
But not all counties went ahead. Officials in three of Mississippi's most populous counties -- DeSoto, Jackson and Jones -- said they weren't issuing licenses to same-sex couples. The Campaign for Southern Equality, which represented plaintiffs in a Mississippi gay marriage case, says about half the counties say they won't issue licenses, though in many places no one has asked.
A federal lawsuit filed last year by two couples challenged Mississippi's 1997 law and 2004 voter-approved constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves overturned the ban, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case but did not rule before Friday's Supreme Court decision. Hood had initially said Friday that counties should await word from the appeals court.
The Louisiana Clerks of Court Association also gave the go-ahead Monday for clerks there to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
The email was sent just after two men in New Orleans celebrated what apparently was the first same-sex wedding in the state.
On Friday, the association said clerks should wait 25 days after the Supreme Court decision.
Monday, it said the group had learned that several parish clerks of court had or would begin issuing the licenses. To avoid confusion, it said, clerks should begin changes consistent with the Supreme Court opinion and may issue the licenses as soon as they are ready.
In Alabama, an Associated Press telephone survey of counties on Monday found that at least 32 of the state's 67 counties were issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.
However, at least 22 counties were not issuing the licenses, with several probate judges citing continued confusion or saying they needed time to review the decision. Several had shut down marriage license operations altogether.
In Kentucky, some court clerks were also refusing to issue marriage licenses to any couple Monday as an objection to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling.
Casey County Clerk Casey Davis said his Christian beliefs would not allow him to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He said his office is no longer issuing licenses to any couple.
Gov. Steve Beshear ordered all the state's clerks to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses Friday. In a statement Monday, he said he expects all clerks, who are elected officials, "to execute the duties of their offices as prescribed by law."
Clerks in Rowan and Lawrence counties also have stopped issuing all marriage licenses in response to the Supreme Court ruling, The Lexington Herald-Leader first reported Monday.
Information for this article was contributed by Will Weissert, David Warren, Jeff Amy, Kim Chandler, Martin Swant, Janet McConnaughey and Dylan Lovan of The Associated Press.
A Section on 06/30/2015