Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall on
Tuesday vowed to continue issuing marriage licenses to gay and
lesbian couples despite a threat of legal action from Colorado
Attorney General John Suthers.
Hall began issuing the licenses last
week after the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld a
lower court's ruling striking down Utah's constitutional amendment
limiting marriage to heterosexual unions.
The appeals court's jurisdiction
includes Colorado, but the decision was stayed by the court. Hall
said the court's stay only applied to Utah.
“It's not about politics,” Hall
told reporters. “It's about people who love each other, their
families, their friends, our coworkers and doing what's right and
just. And history will be on our side.”
“Our position is the same as
previously stated. Same-sex licenses are legal and just licenses,
and we will continue to issue them.”
According to the Times-Call,
the county has issued 88 licenses to gay couples.
Suthers had given the county a Tuesday
deadline to stop issuing such licenses. A spokeswoman for Suthers
said his office would implement a legal strategy “as quickly as
possible.”
Also on Tuesday, six gay couples filed
a federal lawsuit challenging the state's restrictive marriage ban.