County clerks in Idaho and North Carolina began issuing their states' first marriage licenses to gay couples on Friday after court actions that capped a week of victories for supporters of same-sex matrimony in America, according to The Associated Press.
The move came as barriers to gay marriage fell state by state this week and followed days of back-and-forth federal court actions that could soon see legal weddings for same-sex couples extended to 35 states, the AP reported.
The U.S. Supreme Court removed a temporary hold it imposed earlier in the week in Idaho's case, giving a green light for same-sex nuptials in the mountainous state, according to the AP.
Susan Petersen, clerk of Latah County in northwest Idaho which includes the college town of Moscow, said she issued her first license to a lesbian couple after getting guidance from county legal advisers, the AP reported.
There was no immediate word on whether permits were being issued elsewhere in the state. A spokesman for Idaho's attorney general said officials were awaiting a mandate from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to proceed, according to the AP.
The state's Republican governor, C.L. "Butch" Otter, said the move to allow gay marriage ran "contrary to the values of most Idahoans" and undermined fundamental states' rights, the AP reported.
"But we are a nation of laws," Otter said in a statement, according to the AP. "Idaho now should proceed with civility and in an orderly manner to comply with any forthcoming order from the 9th Circuit."
The 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over much of the western United States, overturned gay marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada on Tuesday, although the Idaho ruling was briefly put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court at the state's request, the AP reported.
Nevada, where officials indicated they were ready to embrace same-sex matrimony, began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on Thursday, according to the AP.
