US: Situation for gay Indiana couples married before stay issued unclear

Gay couples who married in the US state of Indiana before a stay was issued preventing further marriages from taking place, remain unclear about where they stand, as experts failed to agree.

US District Judge Richard Young last week struck down the state of Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban. A federal appeals court later issued a stay, putting Young’s ruling on hold.

For the same-sex couples who married in the three-day period before a stay was issued, it is unclear whether their marriages are legally recognised, and it is also unclear how long before the situation is clarified.

According to the Associated Press, an Indiana University law professor said the rulings “reset” the state’s same-sex marriage ban, and invalidated licences already issued in the state to same-sex couples.

The Attorney General’s office, however; said it was uncertain whether those marriages will be recognised, and that it will be up to the courts to decide.

The first same-sex couple to marry in the state were Craig Bowen and Jake Miller, who ran to the clerk’s office in Indianapolis after hearing news of the court ruling.