Nebraska's ban on gay marriage will stay in place after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday froze a lower court's ruling that would have made the state the 38th to allow same-sex unions.
The Omaha World-Herald reported that the state ban will likely stay in place until June, when the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide the issue. The Thursday ruling came after U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon struck down Nebraska's ban on same-sex marriage Monday. He delayed his decision for a week to give the state time to appeal, the newspaper noted.
This week, the Supreme Court scheduled the oral arguments for its same-sex marriage
cases for April 28, according to Reuters. The Supreme Court set off a string of federal court cases mostly favoring same-sex marriage two years ago when it invalidated a federal law that restricted benefits to heterosexual couples.
Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson told the Lincoln Journal Star that the appellate court's decision respected the state's current workings.
"We are glad the court has granted the stay because it provides current stability in Nebraska's marriage licensing process," Peterson said via email.
Al Riskowski, of the Nebraska Family Alliance, said in a release to the Journal Star that the ruling for the appeals court was appropriate.
"States like Nebraska should have the right to define marriage," Riskowski said in the statement. "We are hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court which is set to decide a similar case this summer, will uphold the right of states to define marriage as one man and one woman."
Danielle Conrad, executive director of ACLU of Nebraska, told the World-Herald that she believes the ban will eventually end regardless of the stay this week.
"The discrimination that is enshrined in our Constitution hurts our clients and countless other Nebraska families," she said. "One day, Nebraska's promise of 'equality before the law' will ring true for all who call our state home."
Nebraska voters passed a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages in 2000, noted the Journal Star.