The Supreme Court declared Friday that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States. Gay and lesbian couples already could marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The Court's ruling means that 14 states, including South Dakota, will now have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage. The ruling will not take effect immediately, however, because the Court gave the losing side roughly three weeks to ask for reconsideration.
But state officials say that computer systems have been updated to issue gender-neutral marriage licenses. The Department of Health has reported that starting today (Friday) at 1:00 p.m., couples can request marriage licenses at any county office in South Dakota. The system now features two spouse fields rather than the previous bride and groom fields.
