RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban Friday, opening the way for the first same-sex weddings in the state to begin immediately.
U.S. District Court Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. in Asheville issued a ruling shortly after 5 p.m. declaring the ban approved by state voters in 2012 unconstitutional.
Though Cogburn’s federal judicial district only covers the western third of the state, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said through a spokeswoman that the order applies statewide.
Buncombe County Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger kept his Asheville office open late to begin issuing marriage licenses to waiting couples the moment the ban was struck down.
Also Friday, the Supreme Court said that same-sex marriages could proceed in Idaho, and state officials were trying to determine when wedding ceremonies might take place. But the high court blocked the granting of licenses in Kansas, hours after the state’s most populous county issued a license to a same-sex couple who quickly wed.
