June 25
U.S. District Judge Richard Young strikes down Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage. Hundreds of same-sex couples were free to marry. The state’s attorney general’s office said it would file a request for an emergency stay and would appeal the order.
June 26
After receiving word from the state, the Delaware County Clerk’s Office begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. More than 15 couples received their licenses.
June 27
The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals grants a stay late in the day, halting same-sex marriages in Indiana during the appeals process.
July 7
Mark G. Ahern, chief counsel to Gov. Mike Pence, issues a memo to all executive branches, saying to ignore any of the same-sex marriages filed in the three-day window.
Indiana executive agencies are to ignore any of the same-sex marriages filed in late June after a federal judge’s order, according to a memo from Gov. Mike Pence’s office.
On Monday, Mark G. Ahern, chief counsel to Pence, issued the memo to all executive branches. Only state agencies and their services, such as food stamps and joint files for state taxes, that report to Pence’s office are affected by this decision.
In the memo, it states that Indiana’s ban is “in full force and effect and executive branch agencies are to execute their functions as though the U.S. District Court Order of June 25, 2014, had not been issued.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Young ruled June 25 that Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. Following that order, same-sex couples went to their county clerk’s offices to file for marriage licenses. In Delaware County, more than 15 couples lined up at the office.
On June 27, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago granted a stay on the judge’s order, which put a halt on the marriages. This also caused uncertainty for couples who filed during the three-day window when it was legal in Indiana.
Heather Dobbs and Natasha Martz, owners of Muncie’s Mark III Tap Room — one of the oldest Hoosier gay bars — had been together for six years before receiving their marriage license June 26 at the Delaware County Clerk’s Office.
While the order from the governor’s office made Dobbs frustrated, she said she feels positive that more people are for equality. She said she believes the federal government will overturn the Indiana ban permanently.
“We have already seen several different states that ... [were] overturned by the federal government,” she said. “I just feel like it will continue to go that way. It would be quite the shock to me if it goes the other way.”
Dobbs said she’s focused on fighting for equality, but the decision still irritated her.
“It does kind of tend to bear down on you,” she said. “... It’s hurtful to basically receive the happiest day of your life then turn around and feel like it was kicked out from under you.”
Pence told reporters at a Statehouse event Wednesday that Indiana was abiding by the decision of the federal appeals court’s stay, according to The Associated Press.
American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk said Wednesday he believes Pence is wrong and the marriages are legal.
“During the time they were married, they were lawfully married,” Falk said in an email to The Associated Press. “And the fact that the law, in effect, changed subsequent to their marriage does not void their marriages.”
While agencies are being told not to recognize the hundreds of marriages performed between June 25 and June 27, Indiana will recognize just one: Amy Sandler and Nikole Quasney’s.
Sandler and Quasney were married out of state, and due to an appellate court order, Indiana must recognize their marriage. Quasney is dying of ovarian cancer.
Christopher Stephens contribute to this article.
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