USA: Supreme Court allowed gay marriage in five more states

US Supreme Court allowed gay marriages in five more states and declined to hear appeal against the decision. The five states involved in the decision are Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana. With the decision, the court left intact lower-court rulings that struck down bans in those states.

Conservative protesters appealed in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on 6 October 2014 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court announced that it will not hear the five pending same-sex marriage cases, paving the way for gay and lesbian marriage in 11 more states. The other states would be North Carolina, West Virginia, South Carolina, Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado. Now, the total number of states with gay marriage is likely to jump from 19 to 30.

The issue could still return to the court, but the message sent by the court in declining to hear the matter would be a boost to gay marriage advocates involved in similar litigation in states that still have bans on the books.

It was only as recently as 2004 that Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriage following a state court ruling in the 2003. In 17 other states, judges have issued rulings in favor of gay marriage - most of which struck down bans - although the prohibitions have remained intact while litigation continues.

Same Sex Marriages in USA
#	Provinces/States	Legalisation by
01	California	Court Decision
02	Colorado
03	Connecticut
04	Indiana
05	Iowa
06	Massachusetts
07	New Jersey
08	New Mexico
09	Oklahoma
10	Oregon
11	Pennsylvania
12	Utah
13	Virginia
14	Wisconsin
15	Delaware	State Legislature
16	Hawaii
17	Illinois
18	Minnesota
19	New Hampshire
20	New York
21	Rhode Island
22	Vermont
23	Maine	Popular Vote
24	Maryland
25	Washington