The federal government will recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who married in Utah in recent weeks, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Approximately 1,360 same-sex couples married between Dec. 20, 2013 — when U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby found the state's ban on same-sex couples' marriages to be unconstitutional — and this Monday, when the Supreme Court put new marriages of same-sex couples on hold pending the state's appeal of Shelby's ruling.
In a video released by the Justice Department on Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced, "I am confirming today that, for purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages."
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