Human Rights Campaign Presses States To Recognize Gay Marriage Immediately

Supporters of same-sex marriage celebrate outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday June 26, 2015, after the court declared that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the US. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Officials in states where same-sex marriage was not legal before Friday’s monumental Supreme Court decision should not get in the way of same-sex couples seeking to marry, the top LGBT rights group warned Friday.

The Human Rights Campaign sent letters to the governors and attorneys general of states that were not recognizing gay marriage prior to the Supreme Court’s decision, discouraging them from delaying issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples any longer.

“In order to be in full compliance with the law, we urge you to take immediate action to ensure that all Justices of the Peace begin issuing marriage licenses to all eligible couples immediately,” HRC’s Legal Director Sarah Warbelow wrote in the letter. “Delaying the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples is not only unlawful, but allows the discriminatory impacts of an unconstitutional law to continue.”

The letter went to officials in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi,Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Alabama.

See an example of one of the letters below:

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