Same-sex couples began marrying in Alabama on Monday, defying an attempt by the chief justice of the state's Supreme Court to block probate judges from issuing marriages licenses to gays and lesbians.
A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday helped clear the way for Alabama to become the 37th state to allow same-sex couples to marry. Justices refused a request by Alabama's attorney general to keep such marriages on hold until the court rules whether laws banning them are constitutional.
"We wanted to be part of history," said Dee Bush, 40, who received one of the first marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples in Birmingham, Alabama. She and her partner of seven years, Laura Bush, quickly wed in a park outside the courthouse.
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore had sought to throw up a last-minute roadblock for marriages between gay and lesbian couples.