After Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to turn away same-sex marriage appeals in five states, which looked to make the unions illegal, a judge in Kansas is now allowing same-sex marriage licenses to be issued.
Judge Kevin Moriarty of Johnson County in northeast Kansas filed an administrative order that says, “The clerk of the [Johnson County] district court is hereby directed to issue marriage licenses to all individuals, including same-sex individuals, provided they are otherwise qualified to marry.”
According to Thomas Witt of Kansas Equality, the state does not have residency requirements for marriage licenses, meaning any same-sex couple can receive a marriage license in Johnson County.
“This is a huge victory, this is going to be a historic day for the LGBT community in Kansas," Witt says.
Johnson County is the most popululated county in Kansas.
It's not yet known whether the marriages will be valid, considering Kansas Statute 23-2501 still defines marriages as between members of the opposite sex. Nonetheless, Thomas Witt says he expects other counties in Kansas to follow suit.
Below is the administrative order by Judge Moriarty