Same-sex couples in Mobile County were able to legally marry for the first time this month after a federal court order forced the county probate office to begin issuing marriage licenses regardless of gender.
The Mobile County Probate Office had kept its marriage license counter closed for several days even after a federal judge’s ruling striking down Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban was set to take effect. The county’s probate judge, like many others around the state, had pointed to guidance from Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore instructing probate judges not to issue licenses to same-sex couples. A renewed order from the federal judge overseeing the case ultimately compelled the office to comply, and the shades over the office windows went up in the afternoon, clearing the way for licenses to be issued.
Couples who had waited years for the chance began filling out paperwork within the hour. One local man, who had been with his partner for nearly two decades, said the moment felt like a long time coming for the state. Another couple who applied for a license said they were relieved the legal uncertainty of the previous week had finally been resolved.
A local pastor performed wedding ceremonies inside the atrium of Mobile Government Plaza shortly after licenses became available, with friends and family gathered to celebrate. The pastor, who leads a Mobile-based congregation, said her church had performed religious union ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples for two decades while hoping the unions would eventually carry full legal recognition.
The Baldwin County Probate Office also began issuing licenses to same-sex couples around the same time, following the same federal court order that applied statewide. Not every reaction outside the Mobile County offices was celebratory: a small group of protesters gathered nearby with signs objecting to the marriages, though newly married couples largely proceeded past them without incident.
The order came after months of legal back-and-forth in federal court over Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban, with the state’s probate judges left to sort out how and when to comply as the case moved through the courts. Mobile County’s decision to begin issuing licenses marked a significant local milestone in that broader legal fight, giving area same-sex couples access to marriage licenses for the first time in county history.