ST. LOUIS — Four same-sex couples were married Wednesday in St. Louis in a challenge to Missouri’s constitutional prohibition against gay marriage, and even though he says he personally supports gay marriage, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is seeking an injunction preventing St. Louis officials from issuing marriage licenses.
Click here for pictures from the wedding ceremony from sister-station FOX 2 in St. Louis.
The Missouri same-sex marriages happened as a federal appeals court in Denver ruled on Wednesday that states cannot prevent gay couples from marrying.
Koster said he is seeking an injunction preventing St. Louis officials from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples because local officials should not be acting in conflict with state laws.
Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2004 limiting marriage to only one man and one woman.
Koster is a Democrat who is running for governor in 2016. He said in a written statement that many people have changed their minds about marriage in the past decade but that it is his duty as attorney general to defend Missouri’s laws.
The marriages were performed in St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay’s office.
Joni Wickham, spokeswoman for Kansas City Mayor Sly James, says the city’s council-manager form of government prevents Mayor Sly James from making unilateral decisions on gay marriage. Slay heads a strong mayor form of government and has the authority to take actions like those Thursday.
4 those asking, StL & KC Govs are totally different. I do not have legal ability to issue marriage licenses. Would if I could #KansasCity
— Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) June 26, 2014
Officials in Springfield and Columbia say they have seen no signs of similar decisions by their municipal leaders.
