After a Colorado state judge ruled that the state's same-sex marriage ban is "hanging on by a thread," at least three counties have been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the Associated Press reports.
In one decision, Adams District Judge C. Scott Crabtree ruled Wednesday that the ban violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause and the arguments in support of the ban about protecting family and promoting the procreation of children are just a "'pretext for discriminating against same-sex marriages,'" Fox 31 out of Denver reports. Some counties were already issues licenses after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out Utah's ban on same-sex marriage, Fox 31 also reports.
In another decision, Boulder District Judge Andrew Hartman allowed the Boulder County Clerk to continue issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, The Daily Caller reports. Hartman opined that that the ban is "'hanging on by a thread and the court must presume that it remains valid.'"
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