Same-sex marriage haltingly begins in Alabama

An activist waves a marriage pride flag in front of the Supreme Court.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Same-sex marriage got off to an uneven start in Alabama, as dozens of counties refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Alabama's request to stay a ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, thereby rebuffing the state's chief justice, Roy Moore, who hours earlier ordered probate judges to not issue marriage licenses to gay couples. But despite the Justices' ruling, at least 50 of the state's 67 counties declined to issue marriage licenses to gay couples on day one, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.