Supreme Court delays benefits for gay couples in Utah

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY

More than 1,000 same-sex married couples in Utah will have to wait longer for state benefits after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that state officials don’t have to recognize the marriages until their appeal is heard.

The couples were wed during a 17-day stretch in December when same-sex marriages were legal before the nation’s highest court put the practice on hold. They had been set to get benefits Monday.

Instead, couples will have to put off plans to apply for benefits such as child custody.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert applauded the Supreme Court’s decision. “I believe states have the right to determine their laws regarding marriage and, as I have said all along, that decision will ultimately come from the United States Supreme Court,” he said in a statement.