Couples – gay or straight — looking for a marriage license in Pike County, Ala. won’t get one from local probate judge Wes Allen.
“We have not issued any marriage licenses since Feb. 9, 2015,” Allen says.
That’s when a federal judge struck down Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage. The state’s then-Chief Justice Roy Moore told local officials they weren’t bound by the federal court ruling. That threw Alabama’s marriage license system into chaos. Some offices closed altogether.
For Allen, the decision came down to his religious beliefs.
“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and firmly believe that biblical world view,” he says. “And I couldn’t put my signature on a marriage license that I knew not to be marriage.”
As many as 12 other judges adopted similar policies after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Some, like Allen, closed their marriage license division. Others will sign the license but quit performing marriage ceremonies.
Read the full story at NPR
