Utah Governor Gary Herbert received
more than 2,700 calls, emails and letters in the weeks following a
federal judge's December 20 ruling striking down Utah's ban on gay
marriage.
Herbert, a Republican, has vowed to
defend Amendment 3, the state's 2006 voter-approved constitutional
amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.
Before the Supreme Court granted a stay
in the ruling, more than 1,300 gay and lesbian couples rushed to
county clerk's offices to wed.
According to the AP, messages in
support of the ruling and asking Herbert to drop the legal fight
outnumbered those opposed by a 2-1 margin.
“Make our family one again,” wrote
Karol Darlene Dixon, who said she had been with her partner for 29
years. “I don't know any straight couples who have waited over 29
years to declare their love legally.”
Ginny Brown wrote to encourage the
governor to “hold fast to your values.”
“I believe you are doing the right
thing, but I'm not very optimistic about the Supreme Court,” Brown
added.