Boulder, Colo., still issuing same-sex marriage licenses as others stop

The Boulder County clerk in Colorado will not stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples even though Denver has been ordered to stop and Pueblo County voluntarily stopped Monday.

The Colorado attorney general’s office is trying to take the decision out of the Boulder clerk’s hands. His office Monday appealed a district court decision that ruled Boulder could grant licenses, according to the attorney general’s office.

The decision by Pueblo came after the Colorado Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Denver County clerk to stopping issuing licenses.

This month, Atty. Gen. John Suthers, a Republican, told the Los Angeles Times that his office went to the state’s top court to ask for a ruling on the constitutionality of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Suthers also asked for an injunction to stop rogue clerks from issuing licenses in Boulder, Denver and Pueblo counties. Only Denver and Adams counties were named in the top court’s Friday decision.

On Monday, Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert Ortiz said his office would stop issuing licenses.

“I believe that A.G. Suthers is on the wrong side of history, and my office is reluctantly ceasing to issue licenses as of this afternoon,” Ortiz said in a statement on his personal Twitter account.

Officials said Suthers also argued Monday that, while not listed in the state Supreme Court’s Friday ruling, all counties should have to stop issuing licenses.

Suthers, against the request of Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, went to the state Supreme Court after the district judge ruled that the Boulder County clerk could continue issuing licenses.

That ruling occurred after another district court struck down the ban on same-sex marriage, but the ruling was stayed pending an appeal. Last month, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Colorado, struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage and stayed its ruling.

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