Just hours after the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that same-sex couples can marry next week, anti-gay attorneys announced they will ask the Supreme Court to halt Virginia marriages.
Tim Bostic and Tony London, in the photo above, just want to get married.
Their case, originally filed last year as Bostic v. McDonnell, then, as Bostic v. Rainey, and now, as Bostic v. Schaefer, earlier today got good news. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals announced that it was refusing a motion by the Alliance Defending Freedom, representing Prince William County Clerk Michéle B. McQuigg, to place a stay on its ruling from last month. That ruling upheld a federal court judge’s February ruling that found Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
Now, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has announced it will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to place a stay — to halt — the same-sex marriages that would be allowed to be performed next week.
“The people of Virginia and every other state should continue to be free to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman in their laws if they choose to do so,” ADF attorney Byron Babione said in a statement this afternoon. “Because the 4th Circuit chose not to place a hold on its decision as other courts – including the U.S. Supreme Court – have done in nearly identical cases, we intend to ask the high court to do so in this case before the 4th Circuit’s mandate goes into effect. We trust the Supreme Court will grant our request in order to ensure an orderly and dignified resolution of this important constitutional question.â€
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts oversees the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Given the Court’s previous rulings to stay decisions in marriage cases, it seems likely he will grant the motion.
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Image via American Foundation for Equal Rights