“Virginia clerks and clergy members had begun preparing for a stream of same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses. But the order brought an abrupt halt to those preparations, which included new state forms that substituted the word “spouses” for “bride and groom.”

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped Virginia officials from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, putting on hold a lower-court ruling that said the unions could start Thursday.

The court stayed a decision by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which on July 28 agreed with a district judge’s ruling that Virginia’s ban is unconstitutional. The same panel declined last week to delay its ruling.

The Supreme Court’s action was expected. Its one-paragraph order came without noted dissent from any of the nine justices and was consistent with its decision granting a stay in Utah, another state where a ban was found to be unconstitutional.

The decision indicates that the high court wants additional lower courts to weigh in instead of giving what might be construed as implied approval of an unbroken string of federal court decisions striking down state bans on same-sex marriages.

Virginia clerks and clergy members had begun preparing for a stream of same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses. But the order brought an abrupt halt to those preparations, which included new state forms that substituted the word “spouses” for “bride and groom.”

Read More