Kansas' leading LGBT advocate, Kansas
Equality, has warned of “some bumps along the way to full marriage
equality” in Kansas.
The warning came a day after the
Supreme Court refused to stay a ruling striking down Kansas' ban on
gay marriage as the state pursues an appeal.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt said the
decision applies only in Douglas and Sedgwick counties, defendants in
the case, while the ACLU, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of two
plaintiff couples, said that it applies statewide.
Schmidt reiterated in a statement that
the case has been appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and
that the “underlying case on the merits also remains pending.”
Schmidt also filed a case with the
Kansas Supreme court, which resulted in the court ordering officials
not to issue marriage licenses to gay couples as the case proceeds.
District court clerks' offices issue
marriage licenses in Kansas, which has a 3-day waiting period.
Johnson County Court Clerk Sandra
McCurdy told the AP that she would not issue licenses to gay couples
until she hears “something from the Kansas Supreme Court.” She
said that roughly 70 applications are pending.
“Get ready for some bumps along the
way to full marriage equality,” Thomas Witt, executive director of
Equality Kansas, said in a
Facebook post.
In Douglas County, a judge waived the
state's mandatory waiting period for three couples and said he would
continue to do so on a case-by-case basis. As of noon, only a
handful of Kansas' 105 counties were accepting marriage applications
from gay couples.
Republican Governor Sam Brownback, who
campaigned
on his opposition to marriage equality, has also indicated that
he'll continue defending the state's restrictive marriage ban.