The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) on
Thursday thanked Utah officials for their help in allowing gay
couples to marry.
“@UtahAGoffice from @HRC President
Chad Griffin: Thank You!” the nation's largest LGBT rights group
tweeted.
Of course, the praise was not sincere.
Instead, Griffin was delighting in Utah's blundering of a case
challenging the constitutionality of Amendment 3, Utah's 2004
voter-approved amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual unions.
“He's owed our thanks for his general
incompetence,” an HRC staffer told
BuzzFeed of Utah's acting attorney general Brian Tarbet. “With
every fumble, bumble, and delay, even more gay couples get married.”
U.S. District Court Judge Robert
Shelby's ruling declaring the state's ban invalid appeared to catch
Tarbet off guard. The state failed to file a preemptive stay in the
case, allowing Shelby's ruling to take effect immediately.
The state scrambled to block the
ruling, but four requests to three judges, including two at the
appellate level, were denied.
A planned request to the U.S. Supreme
Court was delayed on Thursday as the state announced it would seek
outside counsel in the case.
A meme on social media also reveled in
Utah's missteps.
A postcard addressed to the Mormon
Church states, “Dear Utah, Karma is a bitch. Love, California.”
(Related: Incoming
Utah AG vows to take gay marriage fight to Supreme Court.)