Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has ordered the state’s judges to refuse to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
He said the order to refuse the licenses remains in ‘full force.’
Roy Moore made national headlines last year with his attempts to block gay marriage.
He is also is known for erecting a Ten Commandments monument in Alabama’s court building.
Susan Watson is director of the ACLU of Alabama.
Watson called Moore’s order ‘silly’ and said it wouldn’t change the fact that most Alabama judges are issuing licenses to gay couples.
Moore said in Wednesday’s decision that even though the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated anti-gay marriage laws – he cited laws in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee — “confusion and uncertainty exist among the probate judges of this State as to the effect” on existing orders in Alabama.
Moore issued a similar order last year.
It’s unclear what impact the decision will have in the state, where some officials are issuing the licenses and others are not.
