Maine Recognizes Utah Marriages, Attorney General Janet Mills Announces

January 13, 2014

(AUGUSTA) Maine Attorney General Janet T. Mills confirmed today that Maine law recognizes out-of-state marriages that are validly licensed and certified and are otherwise legal in Maine, including same-sex marriages performed recently in Utah. Pursuant the 2012 citizen referendum, the State of Maine recognizes same-sex marriages performed within Maine as well, as same-sex marriages legally performed in other jurisdictions. Recently in the State of Utah, same-sex marriages were briefly allowed. According to published reports, as many as 1,360 couples were married between December 20, 2013 when a federal judge struck down a Utah ban on same-sex marriages and January 6, 2014 when the US Supreme Court enjoined further marriages pending an appeal. ?Maine statute is clear that any marriage that was performed legally in another state and that would otherwise be legal in Maine will be given full faith and credit under Maine law,? said Attorney General Janet T. Mills. ?Assuming these marriages in Utah also comply with Maine law, they will be recognized here. Moreover, this issue raises the notion that some Americans are not being treated equally and are being denied the right to marry the person they love. I hope that the Supreme Court will use this opportunity to right this wrong in Utah, as they have elsewhere.? The statement from Attorney General Mills was prompted by an inquiry from newspaper reporters and from national advocacy groups involved in marriage equality issues.

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