by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer

Last week, on the day the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling upholding a lower court decision that Utah must allow Gay and Lesbian couples to marry, a Colorado county clerk announced she would begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In a media release posted on her website, Bolder County Clerk and Recorder Hillary Hall said she would issue licenses until closing time Wednesday, June 25 and resume at 8:00 a.m. the next day.

'Because 10th Circuit decisions are binding in the State of Colorado, the precedent established by [the Utah case] Kitchen v. Herbert is applicable to the same-sex marriage ban contained in the Colorado Constitution,' Hall wrote on her website. 'The Tenth Circuit found that 'those who wish to marry a person of the same sex are entitled to exercise the same fundamental right as is recognized for persons who wish to marry a person of the opposite sex.'

'Couples across Colorado have been waiting a long time to have their right to marry the person they love recognized,' Hall continued. 'I want to act immediately to let them carry out that wish.'

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said that marriage licenses issued by Hall would not be valid, however.

Because the Tenth Circuit stayed its decision, Colorado's ban on same-sex marriage remains in effect, according to Suthers' spokesperson, Carolyn Tyler.

'It's not binding on Utah let alone on Colorado,' Tyler said. 'Boulder has a history of activism on this issue.'

Speaking to the Denver Post, Hall insisted that because Colorado falls under the Tenth Circuit's jurisdiction, their ruling in the Utah case also applies in Colorado.

'I am relying on the Tenth Circuit's statement that marriage is a fundamental right,' she said.

'Because the Court stayed its mandate, officials in Utah will not have to implement the decision immediately. Even so, I believe the opinion is clear and it is important to act immediately. Colorado's prohibition on same sex marriage has treated our family, friends, and co-workers as second-class citizens for long enough. Unless a Court in Colorado or the U.S. Supreme Court tells me otherwise, I plan to begin issuing licenses.'

No other Colorado county clerks are reported to be issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

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