Republican Alabama Governor Robert
Bentley said Tuesday that he was disappointed with an appeals court's
decision not to extend a stay on two rulings striking down Alabama's
ban on gay marriage.
Bentley had asked the Eleventh Circuit
Court of Appeals in Atlanta to delay implementation of the rulings
until the Supreme Court ruled later this year in cases challenging
bans in four states.
(Related: Appeals
court refuses to delay Alabama gay marriage rulings.)
Attorney General Luther Strange has
said that he will ask the Supreme Court to delay the start of
marriage equality in Alabama, which is set to begin Monday.
“I am disappointed by the 11th
Circuit's decision today,” Bentley said Tuesday. “The issue of
same sex marriage is a complicated one that involves all levels of
government. My request to the 11th Circuit was simply to ask that
the stay be held until the Supreme Court can rule once and for all
this year or pending the fully briefed 11th Circuit appeal of the
issue. I support the Attorney General's decision to ask the U.S.
Supreme Court for a stay of the 11 Circuit's decision.”