JACKSON, Miss. — A federal appeals court Wednesday instructed judges in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to wrap up gay marriage cases in their states in line with last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The order Wednesday from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clears one of the final procedural roadblocks in the three cases, which had been pending before the New Orleans-based court. The 5th Circuit had heard arguments in the appeals but hadn’t ruled.
The court’s ruling was issued on the same day that a federal judge in Alabama ordered a handful of counties in that state still refusing to issue gay-marriage licenses to abide by the high court’s decision.
Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, Episcopalians voted overwhelmingly to allow religious weddings for same-sex couples, solidifying the church’s embrace of gay rights that began more than a decade ago with the pioneering election of the first openly gay bishop.
The vote came at the Episcopal General Convention, passed by both the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops.
