A federal appeals court on Wednesday
granted a temporary stay in the ruling that struck down Alaska's gay
marriage ban.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy
Burgess struck down the ban, which was approved by voters in 1998, on
Sunday, saying it violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution.
Lawyers representing Republican
Governor Sean Parnell turned to the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco after Burgess refused to set aside his
ruling pending an appeal.
A 3-judge panel of the 9th
Circuit on Wednesday agreed to a temporary stay which expires on
Friday.
“The court grants a temporary stay of
the district court's October 12, 2014 order, until 12:00 p.m. (noon)
on Friday, October 17, 2014, to afford appellants an opportunity to
seek a stay from the United States Supreme Court,” the court wrote.
“Barring any such stay from the Supreme Court, this court's
temporary stay dissolves at 12:00 p.m. PDT on October 17, 2014.”
Last week, the Supreme
Court denied a similar request from Idaho and gay
couples began marrying on Wednesday.
Alaska started issuing marriage
licenses to gay couples on Monday. In at least two cases, a judge
waived the state's 3-day waiting period and married the couples.