The latest developments on same-sex marriage

Weddings, court rulings and confusion are defining a week that started with the U.S. Supreme Court denying appeals from five states seeking to retain their bans on same-sex marriage, followed by a ruling overturning some bans in Western states. Here's a rundown of the most recent developments:

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Going to the chapel

Gay couples in Las Vegas cheered at the marriage license bureau when days of anticipation became reality and the county clerk began granting same-sex partners the right to wed shortly after 5 p.m. About 430 miles north, Kristy Best and Wednesday Smith became the first same-sex couple in the state to get a license about 3 p.m. Thursday.

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Movement in other states

— Gay couples in West Virginia began receiving marriage licenses after the state's attorney general dropped his fight opposing same-sex unions. At least one couple was married in a brief civil ceremony outside the Cabell County Courthouse, The Huntington Herald-Dispatch reported.

— Republican legislative leaders in North Carolina have until noon Friday to prepare arguments seeking a delay in action on a pair of challenges to North Carolina's gay marriage ban. The judge appears poised to strike down the ban approved by North Carolina voters in 2012.

— A federal judge in Alaska will hear arguments Friday on the first gay marriage ban passed in the U.S., but it wasn't immediately clear when there would be a ruling. The state said the question of whether to define marriage to include gay couples should be decided by citizens, not the courts. Voters approved the ban in 1998.

— Four gay couples in Idaho asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow same-sex weddings in accordance with the 9th Circuit ruling earlier this week. The filing came in opposition to the emergency delay from Justice Kennedy that caused confusion Wednesday.

— The Arkansas Supreme Court refused to delay a challenge to that state's gay marriage ban, rejecting the state attorney general who had asked the court to put the case on hold.

— The South Carolina Supreme Court ordered lower state courts not to issue same-sexmarriage licenses until a federal judge decides whether the state constitution's ban on the unions is legal. The move came a day after a judge in Charleston had begun accepting applications.

— The wedding plans of gay couples across Kansas remain in limbo, with all but one of the state's 105 counties refusing to issue marriage licenses.

— The University of Notre Dame has told employees it is extending health care and other benefits to same-sex spouses after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage in Indiana and 10 other states. The Catholic university sent out an email to employees Wednesday night, a day after the state attorney general said marriage licenses must be issued to gay couples.

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Christie's thoughts

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says it shouldn't be up to the Supreme Court to decide whether states allow gay marriage. The Republican governor, widely viewed as a contender for president in 2016, told reporters Thursday that he believes states should have the ability to decide the issue on their own. Christie personally opposes same-sex marriage but dropped his administration's legal challenge to a lower court's decision allowing it last year. He said he has been upholding the law since then. Christie had avoided commenting on the court's decision at a campaign stop earlier this week.

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The Gayly – October 10, 2014 @ 9am