Gay marriage legalized in Arizona

PHOENIX — Gay marriage became legal Friday in Arizona, a sharp turn in a state that became ground zero in the clash over gay rights less than a year ago when the state Legislature passed a bill allowing businesses to deny service to gays.

Same-sex couples lined up to marry at the courthouse in downtown Phoenix immediately after Attorney General Tom Horne announced that the state was giving up its fight.

David Larance and Kevin Patterson, who were among the couples who sued to overturn Arizona’s same-sex marriage ban, reflected on the effect of the ruling. “The best way I can describe it is that it gives me such peace of mind,” Patterson said, choking back tears.

Shortly after, they were married to cheers on the courthouse lawn.

“This is a great day,” Patterson said. “I never thought this would happen in Arizona.”

The decision bookends two weeks of nonstop court rulings across the nation, with judges striking down bans on samesex unions and conservative state officials pushing back in a struggle that has increasingly gone in favor of gay marriage supporters.

Since Oct. 6 — when the U.S. Supreme Court let stand rulings that struck down gay-marriage bans — same-sex couples have begun to wed in several new states.

In the West, for example, couples have since tied the knot in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho and Nevada, making Montana the lone state under the jurisdiction of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where samesex couples can’t legally wed.

In Alaska, the Supreme Court refused Friday to intercede in the same-sex marriage case, clearing the way for gay couples there to marry. The court’s order was terse and gave no reasons.

On Wednesday, a threejudge panel of the 9th Circuit entered a brief temporary stay, giving state officials until noon Friday to get a stay from the Supreme Court after a trial judge struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court issued its order almost exactly at the deadline.

And in Wyoming on Friday, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl said the state must comply with a ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that permits same-sex marriage. But he said his ruling will not take effect until next Thursday to allow time for the state to appeal.

The federal government, meanwhile, announced Friday morning that it will recognize same-sex marriages in seven new states and extend federal benefits to those couples, which brings the total number of states where gay unions have federal recognition to 26, plus the District of Columbia.

The states covered by Friday’s announcement include the five directly affected by the Supreme Court order as well as Nevada and Colorado, where the Justice Department says subsequent rulings have allowed the federal government to recognize same-sex messages.

Based on the flurry of re- cent court decisions, including separate decisions Friday that apply to Arizona and Alaska, more than 30 states now extend marriage rights to gay couples.

Arizona’s governor, Jan Brewer, who has clashed with President Barack Obama over immigration and border security, said in a statement that federal courts have gone against the will of voters and eroded the state’s power.

“Simply put, courts should not be in the business of making and changing laws based on their personal agendas,” Brewer said.

The issue has been a source of tension. Nearly eight months ago, Brewer vetoed a bill that would have allowed religious beliefs to be a defense against discrimination claims. Critics called the bill an attack on gays and said it could allow nearly any law to be broken in the name of religious freedom. The proposal set off a national debate, and companies including Apple Inc. and American Airlines encouraged Brewer’s veto.