Feds to recognize Utah's
gay marriages
January 10, 2014, 12:24 pm
By Rebecca Shabad
Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday that the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages in Utah even though state officials declared
they won’t.
“I am confirming today that, for
purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as lawful and
considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as
other same-sex marriages,” Holder said in a video posted on the Justice Department’s website. “These
families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their status as
the litigation unfolds.”
The announcement comes the same
week Utah
officials said they wouldn’t recognize same-sex marriages that had been
performed in the state since December.
Gov. Gary Herbert’s (R) chief of
staff sent a letter to his cabinet on Tuesday directing them to comply legally
with a hold the United
States Supreme Court issued a day earlier.
“State recognition of same-sex
marital status is ON HOLD until further notice. Please understand this position
is not intended to comment on the legal status of those same-sex marriages —
that is for the courts to decide,” the letter said.
On Monday, the Supreme Court filed
an order that temporarily halted same-sex marriages that had been allowed since
a federal judge overturned a ban on them Dec. 20.
District Court Judge Robert J.
Shelby ruled that the ban was unconstitutional. More than 1,300 same-sex
couples got married afterward.
The high court intervened this
week to give state officials more time to appeal Shelby’s ruling.
Gov. Herbert said any legal
changes same-sex couples made since their marriage, such as name changes, will
remain the same. The state, however, will not allow any further legal changes
pending the appeal.
Despite the Supreme Court’s
administrative move, which Holder said “has cast doubt” on these marriages, the
federal government will recognize these couples.
Holder said the action is meant to
comply with the Supreme Court’s decision last June in the case U.S. v. Windsor.
A majority of the justices ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act was
unconstitutional.
“This ruling marked a historic
step toward equality for all American families,” Holder said in the video
Friday. “Since the day it was handed down, the Department of Justice has been
working tirelessly to implement it in both letter and in spirit.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney
said Friday "The president welcomes that determination by the AG."
On Friday afternoon, Gov. Herbert
responded to the Justice Department's announcement and said while state
agencies will comply with federal law in providing federal services to same-sex
couples, Utah's
agencies will only comply with state laws in providing services made available
by the state.
"The announcement that the
Department of Justice will recognize same-sex marriages performed in Utah comes as no
surprise and is consistent with previous direction to state agencies," the
governor said in a statement. " State agencies have always been directed
to comply with federal law when providing federal services and will continue to
do so. State agencies are directed and
will continue to comply with state laws when providing state services. Adherence to the rule of law, both federal
and state as those laws govern respectively, is an unbending principle of this
administration."
Utah
Jon M. Huntsman
Jr. was the Utah
state government governor, the China U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration, a distinguished
fellow at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and is a trustee at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Note: Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution
(think tank), the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace (think tank), the International Rescue Committee, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the NAACP
Legal Defense & Educational Fund.
George Soros
is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and the founder
& chairman for the Open Society
Foundations.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the American Constitution Society.
Clifford S.
Asness is an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, was a leadership council member for the Robin Hood Foundation, and supported same-sex marriage in New York.
Michael R.
Bloomberg was a donor for the Robin
Hood Foundation, and the New York (NY) mayor.
Eric H. Holder Jr.
was an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund, a board member for the American Constitution Society, and is the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration.
Christine A.
Varney is a director at the American
Constitution Society, and an assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of
Justice for the Barack Obama
administration.
Janet
Reno is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, and was the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Robert
Raben was a director at the American
Constitution Society, and an assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department
of Justice.
Walter E.
Dellinger III is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, and was the acting solicitor general
for the U.S. Department of Justice.
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