A federal appeals court decision Tuesday striking down same-sex marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho means nearly 70 percent of the nation’s same-sex couples will soon live in states allowing them to wed, according the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.
According to the institute, the ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pertaining to Nevada and Idaho will likely affect three other states in that court’s jurisdiction that ban same-sex weddings — Alaska, Arizona and Montana. The institute also noted that 11 other states were cleared to allow same-sex marriage when the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review
cases pending in three other federal court districts.
The combination of rulings means 68 percent of same-sex couples will live in states where they can marry, and nearly two-thirds of Americans will live in states that allow same-sex marriage, according to the institute.
Institute officials estimated that about 14,000 same-sex couples will get married in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana and Nevada over the next three years.
