By Brooke Adams

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published 36 minutes ago • Updated 1 minute ago

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday put same-sex marriages in Utah on hold, granting the state’s request for a stay while it appeals a ruling that laws banning such marriages are unconstitutional.

The court said the stay would be in place until the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver makes a decision on Utah’s appeal.

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The state’s stay application was filed with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who referred it to the whole court, according to the order issued Monday. Sotomayor is assigned to the 10th Circuit Court, which rejected Utah’s request for a stay three times.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby also denied the state’s request that he stay his Dec. 20 order while Utah appealed.

The order from the U.S. Supreme Court means clerks in Utah will no longer be allowed to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It is not immediately clear what the order means for couples who have already married.

In a reply filed by the state Monday, Utah said Shelby’s ruling is the “starting point for resolution” of Utah’s right to define marriage, the state said in a reply filed Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Until the “recurring” question of whether the U.S. Constitution requires recognition of same-sex marriages is resolved, Utah should not be forced to license, perform and recognize such marriages, it says.

The state said attorneys for three same-sex couples who successfully challenged Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage “quibble around the edges” and fail to offer any persuasive rebuttal to the state’s argument that Shelby’s Dec. 20 order should be stayed while it appeals the ruling.

The plaintiffs filed their brief before the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday.

Utah’s stay application is being reviewing by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is assigned to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appellate court has agreed to hear Utah’s appeal on an expedited basis, with all filings in the case due by the end of February.

The state said the respondents do not dispute that the case squarely addresses the question left open in United States v. Windsor, which struck a provision in the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Neither do they dispute the Supreme Court is “highly likely” to hear it if the 10th Circuit affirms Shelby’s decision, the state said.

Utah said the respondents failed to address its “common-sense” argument, based on sociological studies, that children do better when parented by a mother and father and permitting only opposite-sex unions increases the likelihood children will be raised in such families.

That provides “at least a rational basis for and, indeed, a compelling interest in the Utah laws that the district court wrongly enjoined,” the state said.

And every same-sex marriage that occurs in Utah as a result of Shelby’s “unlawful injunction” undermines the right of a state and its people to define marriage in the way they believe will best further the public welfare.

Allowing such marriages to continue also “irreparably injures the state, by interfering with its enforcement of its own laws,” the state said.

Meanwhile, the respondents failed to identify and “concrete” harm to themselves or other same-sex couples that would occur if a stay is granted, Utah said.

The Tribune will continue updating this story.

The Tribune will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

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