DENVER - The Utah governor's office said Wednesday that the state would not recognize more than 1,000 same-sex marriages performed over the last two weeks as it appealed a legal ruling that had overturned the state's ban on such unions.
The decision came two days after the United States Supreme Court issued a stay in the case, blocking any same-sex marriages in Utah and effectively reinstating a disputed law that limits marriages across the state to between one man and one woman.
'The original laws governing marriage in Utah return to effect pending final resolution by the courts,' Derek Miller, the chief of staff to Gov. Gary Herbert, wrote in a memo to state officials. 'It is important to understand that those laws include not only a prohibition of performing same-sex marriages but also recognizing same-sex marriages.'
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The decision could have an immediate effect on hundreds of newly married gay couples who had been planning to file joint tax returns this year, who had applied to add their spouses to their health insurance plans, or who had taken steps to legally adopt their children.
Utah's announcement on Wednesday was the latest in a series of moves that began after Judge Robert J. Shelby of United States District Court ordered Utah on Dec. 20 to immediately cease enforcement of its laws restricting marriage to between a man and a woman.
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